


Stay The Night

by anomeganeyatsu



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Bullying, Complicated Relationships, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Friends With Benefits, Hand Jobs, M/M, Masturbation in Bathroom, Underage Sex, cat!Toothless, supposedly asexual Hiccup
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-02-22 07:14:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 42,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2499215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anomeganeyatsu/pseuds/anomeganeyatsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They met in the unlikeliest way. It was neither romantic, nor anything possible. Their first meeting was in a high school, inside the boy’s bathroom, closed within four walls of a cramped stall. One was unaware of the existence of the other, and the latter couldn’t care less about the former because no one ever notices him.</p><p>All they knew was, they have started something. Something that both knew if they made a wrong move would end in nothing but pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bathroom Incident

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing something that has smut in it. When I was writing it I couldn't stop thinking "Why am I writing this? Oh gods why?!" Haha. This idea has been bothering me for quite awhile so I guess that's why I wrote it. This has not been beta'd. I have no experience but I did use some of the fics I've read as somewhat of a guide. He-he.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was really strange how Jackson “Jack Frost” Overland found himself staring at a certain auburn in gym class. The boy looked uneasy, always shifting, always fidgeting with his fingers. He sat in a corner away from prying eyes and he hugged his legs firmly as if he was hiding something.

They met in the unlikeliest way. It was neither romantic, nor anything possible. Their first meeting was in a high school, inside the boy’s bathroom, closed within four walls of a cramped stall. One was unaware of the existence of the other, and the latter couldn’t care less about the former because no one ever notices him.

It was really strange how Jackson “Jack Frost” Overland found himself staring at a certain auburn in gym class. The boy was a year younger than him, short and all skin and bones. His face dotted by infinite freckles and his jade eyes wide in utter terror. The boy looked uneasy, always shifting, always fidgeting with his fingers. He sat in a corner away from prying eyes and he hugged his legs firmly as if he was hiding something. When gym class ended, Jack’s cobalt eyes followed the retreating figure of the freckled teen, quickly disappearing before anyone could even notice he was gone. The albino excused himself from his friends and discreetly pursued the auburn.

He saw him go up the stairs to the third floor, turn a corner and enter the boy’s bathroom that was barely used. Jack heard the bell ring signaling the start of class. He looked at the door and back to path that led to his next class. He contemplated if he should continue, but with a crisp cuss he pushed the door open and went inside. A frantic voice greeted his ears.

“Why won’t you just go away? Darn it. Of all the things that I have to face today it just had to be _this_. Flipping puberty. Gods I hate myself.”

Jack cocked his head to the side curious at why the boy had said that. An amused grin slowly took over his lips as he heard the boy continue his miserable monologue.

“People lose their pen, their locker being picked, a missed homework. But no, I just had to manage sporting a fudging boner and I can’t make it go away. And I thought I was asexual. Oh the gods hate me.”

Jack approached the stall where he heard the voice come from. A grunt followed by a frustrated moan echoed in the empty bathroom. A whimper resounded and skin rubbing against skin punctuated by a few incoherent words.

“Oh Odin, I can’t do this. Not in school,” the voice said letting out a defeated breath.

Jack licked his lips, his hand poised to knock on the stall. He could feel his insides starting to burn, a dull throbbing in his pants. He can’t believe he was actually getting turned on by this. He knew he wasn’t attracted to guys. He did have a friend who was a homosexual, and yes he admits that he was curious how two guys do it. But he never felt anything like this for another guy before. There was something special, no, something different about the freckled teen that had awakened this desire inside of him. Why else would he skip class and follow the auburn here? So without thinking any further, he let his fist land on the door and knocked a few times.

“Hey, you okay in there man?” he asked, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. He was getting excited.

A surprised squeak came from the other side. “Uh—y-yeah. Everything’s f-fine. No need for y-you to uh worry.”

Jack smirked. “You sure? ‘Cause I can hear you struggling in there.”

A nervous laugh. “P-P-Positively sure. Nothing’s wrong. No s-siree.”

“Right,” the white haired teen drawled. “You can stay here, stuck in that boner of a ‘predicament’. Or…you could let me help you.” He offered.

“W-Wha—???” the auburn teen asked taken aback. “You’re telling me that you’d help me get rid of this? You do know I’m a guy right? And so are you? And what the heck’s in it for you?” the teen replied. It seems the shock of Jack’s offer made the younger teen forget about his stutter.

“Is it that bad to be offering a helping _hand_?”

“What you’re suggesting is crazy! You just insinuated giving me a hand job!”

“Aren’t you glad about that?”

“Of course, I’m flattered. Gods, a stranger happily asking to give me a hand job. Yeah, why shouldn’t I be glad?!”

“It’s not like we’re going to have sex. Don’t get ahead of yourself freckles.” Jack said. “Besides, you should be proud that _the_ Jack Frost had just offered to give you a hand job.”

“Oh Thor, no wonder the voice sounds familiar,” he heard the auburn mutter.

Jack smiled, _So he knows who I am._ It wasn’t really much of a surprise since the white haired teen was used to everyone knowing his name. But for some reason, he felt happy that the freckled teen knew who he was. “So will you take the offer? Or remain there with a boner for the rest of the day? I mean, it looks like you can’t get it off yourself.”

“Why would you even want to help me?” the boy asks incredulous.

Jack lets out a sigh. Maybe he should answer him truthfully? “Okay how about this. I do you a favor and you do me one? I’ve already missed my next class following you here, might as well use up my time productively. And like I said, you seem like you’re struggling. I know this sounds weird, but I just want to help.” Okay, maybe that was half the truth and a bit of lie to the side.

Silence answered him. Jack ran a hand through his white locks and groaned. “I won’t tell this to anyone if you’re worried about that. And besides, I’ll be putting myself in as much as a position like yours if I decide to let the whole school know.”

There was still no answer.

“I promise.” He added lastly.

Jack was starting to worry about following the auburn here and why he had to do this. He was about to turn around and just take care of himself when he heard a soft click and the stall door opened revealing the auburn sitting on the toilet seat and his pants down, his cheeks blushing furiously.

“You aren’t exactly known around school to be keeping promises.” The teen said.

Jack stepped inside. “Then why did you open the door?”

The auburn shrugged and avoided looking into Jack’s cobalt eyes as he fidgeted with the hem of his cardigan. “Guess you made your point and I just want to get rid of _this_ ,” he said gesturing to his weeping erection.

Jack let out a light laugh and closed the door, locking it in place. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you get rid of it. . .” he leaned closer to the auburn’s face, their lips only a breath away from each other.

“Hiccup. Just call me Hiccup.” The teen said in a whisper. He leaned away a bit from the teen, glancing from Jack’s cobalt eyes to his lips.

Jack not passing the invitation smirked and closed the gap between them. “Cute name by the way,” he whispered into the kiss.

Hiccup was surprised at the sudden kiss Jack did, but found himself melting in to it later. He closed his eyes and gripped the albino’s hoodie as the latter continued to kiss him. Jack nipped and sucked his lips, his tongue probing for entrance. The freckled teen felt a hand ghost over his nipple and he gasped in surprise at the sudden sensation that spread through his nerves, granting the older teen full access to his mouth.

Jack deepened the kiss, losing himself into the sweet taste of the auburn’s mouth. His soft lips tasted vaguely of cherry Chap Stick, but the inside of his mouth tasted like chocolate. He hummed in content, he loved chocolate. He let his hands roam the freckled teen’s body. Raising up his cardigan and shirt to feel the boy’s skin. He could feel him cringe and moan at his touch, goosebumps forming wherever his hand trailed.

“Y-you said…you’d only…give me a..h-hand job.” Hiccup panted when Jack broke the kiss. Somewhere along their kissing session, Jack had carried him and he was now sitting on the older teen’s lap, his pants were gone and his freckled legs straddled Jack.

Jack smiled mischievously at him. “That was a bonus.” The teen’s hand hovered over Hiccup’s erection, causing the auburn to shut his eyes and whimper. Jack smirked at the younger’s reaction. Oh he was going to enjoy this alright. He gently wrapped his fingers around Hiccup’s member and gave it an experimental tug. Hiccup’s legs buckled and the auburn let out a soft moan. Encouraged, Jack started to pump the teen.

Hiccup’s grip on Jack’s hoodie tightened. He did not expect to have someone else touch him to be this…mind blowing. He wished he had his notebook so he could write down his emotions and the things Jack was doing to him and the sensations that came with it. He buried his face into the Jack’s shoulder breathing heavily as the snow haired teen quickened his pace. He placed a fist into his mouth to muffle his moans and bite into it. He had never felt this amazing before and it was driving him crazy.

Jack was grunting as he felt his own erection building up. It was demanding to be freed from the confines of his pants. He knew he wouldn’t be able to deny it and so with his free hand he unzipped himself. He pulled Hiccup closer to him, letting both their members touch. Hiccup yelped as he felt Jack’s erection rub against his. The auburn removed his head from Jack’s shoulders and looked at their dicks that Jack was holding together.

“Is this the favor I’ll do for you?” he asked.

“No, not even close. I just think this’ll make you feel a lot better,” Jack replied.

“Another bonus?” Hiccup said cocking an eyebrow.

Jack laughed, “You could say that.” And without warning he kissed Hiccup again. The auburn had expected it and kissed with equal fervor. Jack pumped their members together and soon he found his rhythm. Hiccup was moving his hips, thrusting into Jack’s hand producing more friction. Jack moaned into the kiss. Grunting as his orgasm was reaching its peak. Their pace became faster, moans and grunts of pleasure bounced from the walls of the stall. The squelching of their cum soaked dicks rubbing against each other and their heavy breathing filled the room.

“Jack I-I’m close,” Hiccup moaned.

“Same here,” Jack panted. With a last forceful pump, the two teens stiffened as their orgasms hit. Jack continued to move his hand over their dicks, milking them dry of their release. The teens breathed heavily, exhausted from their activity.

Hiccup reached for the toilet paper and started to wipe their selves free from cum. Jack brought his hand that was both covered in his and Hiccup’s cum to his mouth and started to lick it. The albino noticed Hiccup’s raised eye brow at him, he smirked at him and offered it to the auburn. He was just teasing the auburn, but he was surprised when Hiccup held his hand and started to lick his fingers until every drop was gone. And would he give anything to have that tongue around his cock and do wonders to it.

“You should be glad both our clothes didn’t get stained.” Hiccup said as he wiped his mouth with a tissue.

“Yeah, I guess I should.” Jack said and pulled the younger teen closer. “One last kiss?”

“If you’d like a cum tasting kiss. Please, go ahead.” The auburn replied rolling his jade eyes.

Jack shook his head but kissed Hiccup nonetheless. It was five minutes later that they came out of the boys’ bathroom, both looking as if nothing had happened between them. The two teens went on their separate ways as the bell for the next hour had rung, not even glancing at each other. It was a silent agreement. No one speaks of or mentions it, so no one else would know.

Hiccup would wait until Jack decides to ask him to return the favor. None of them really knew when that would be. Or if that would be their last. All they knew was, they have started something. Something that both knew if they made a wrong move would end in nothing but pain.


	2. A Surprise Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup didn't expect to see the person who was standing by their front door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah! The second chapter! Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD or RotG

Days have passed since the bathroom incident as what Hiccup likes to call and like he expected, Jack never went near him or even glanced his way. They had gym class together and like always, the white haired jock had ignored him. Hiccup didn’t exist in Jack’s world that much the auburn already knew. But he couldn’t quite take it out of his mind as why Jack had really followed him to the bathroom at the third floor that day. And the question that persistently keeps popping up in his mind was, why did Jack initiate a sexual relationship with him? Well, maybe it wasn’t a relationship. But he still wondered why Jack had did something like _that_ to Hiccup. It wouldn’t normally count as “helping out” as the albino had so put it. So why was he really there? Hiccup also knows that it wasn’t just for the auburn to owe him a “favor”. Looking into the jock’s personality and the way he interacts with people, Hiccup could tell that he wasn’t the type to just jump into something like _this._ Jack must be up to something because there’s no way he would just follow Hiccup into a bathroom and give him a freaking hand job just for the heck of it. That was just absurd.

Hiccup was lying on his bed as he thought about it. Groaning in frustration with why he was even thinking deeper about this situation. He scolded himself about jumping into the decision of letting the older teen touch him. Though he didn’t want to think about it, thoughts of the bathroom incident were haunting him. The auburn had lost more than he had initially thought. He lost his lip virginity, his first masturbation experience was not a personal one, he was half naked with a guy who doesn’t even like him and most of all, he can’t believe it was a guy who had made him feel _that_ good. For years the auburn had thought he was asexual, he couldn’t even understand why felt that way that day. In his sixteen years of living, he never thought he was actually capable of feeling sexual desires. It was just all messed up and crazy. It felt wrong, but there was a part of him telling him that it was just…right. That it was alright.

The sudden sound of their ringing doorbell had interrupted the auburn’s thoughts. Hiccup sat up from his bed, groaning as he saw his world spinning. He forgot that abruptly sitting up always caused that. Gods did he hate having glasses. The person kept on ringing the doorbell and Hiccup grew irritated. Do they always have to ring so many times?

“Just a minute!” he called as he straightened out the crinkles in his shirt. Once he was satisfied, he opened the door. “Yes, what can I—” Hiccup’s sentence was cut short as he felt a pair of cold soft lips press against his. Hiccup’s eyes grew wide and he pushed the stranger. He was about to bombard the stranger with words that his own father wouldn’t even dream of using when he found all too familiar cobalt eyes staring at him, a mischievous glint in them and a smirk on the lips that were kissing him a few seconds ago.

“Aah, I knew you’d have such a cute expression when I do that. Good thing I decided to do it,” Jack replied laughing.

“Wha— Why— Where—When— How—” Hiccup said unable to form a coherent sentence.

“Glad to see you too. Can I come in freckles?” Jack said and without waiting for the auburn’s permission, he gently pushed Hiccup to the side and invited himself in.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Hiccup finally said when the albino was in their living room inspecting everything in the said room.

“Can’t you tell? I’m visiting,” Jack said and picked up a picture frame that displayed a photo of the auburn teen when he was four. “Aww, I never knew you were this adorable as a kid.”

Hiccup blushed and snatched the frame out of the white haired teen’s hands placing it back with the other picture frames. “Visit? You just entered my house without even waiting for my invitation! Any well-mannered person wouldn’t do that, and you can’t just drop by unannounced!”

“Ever heard of a surprised visit?” the teen said nonchalantly raising a brow.

“Agggghhhhh.” Hiccup groaned as he pulled on his hair in frustration. “Well, you can’t just kiss a person all of a sudden!”

“You’re making excuses,” Jack simply said.

“I am not making excuses! What if someone saw us? Have you no decency? What’s the point of not saying anything about the bathroom incident if you just kiss me in public—in front of my house even! Just like that?! Are you that stupid? Or do you simply not give a damn!” Hiccup panted as he finished. He had never raised his voice to anyone like that before and wow, was it tiring.

“First of all,” Jack said raising a finger. “You should scream louder, I think the whole neighborhood didn’t hear you that well enough. And second, the bathroom incident, seriously? Oh my god Hiccup, can’t you think of anything more creative?” the albino said incredulously.

“Gods, that’s what you complain about?” Hiccup said face palming. “Odin, why? Why am I stuck with an idiot like him.”

“Just so you know, I’m standing right here. Not there or outside. I’m right here.” Jack said pointing with both hands to the spot he was standing on.

Hiccup let out a sigh and shook his head. “Just forget about it,” the auburn said raising both his hands in surrender. “Just tell me, what are you doing here anyway?” he added squeezing the bridge of his nose.

“And so back to the initial question.” Jack said rubbing his hands together.

“Why are you doing that? I don’t like why you’re doing that.” Hiccup said as he took a step back.

Jack laughed but with a speed the auburn didn’t know the older teen could possess, he grabbed Hiccup. Jack held him by the waist, pressing his thin frame against the albino’s lean one. “I’m here,” the teen started to say as he brought his face closer to Hiccup’s, his lips lightly touching his freckled cheeks, “to get that favor you owe me.”  Before Hiccup could even get a word out, Jack claimed his lips in a heated kiss.

Jack’s hand on Hiccup’s waist kept the auburn in place while Hiccup’s hands immediately held to the albino’s shoulders for support. Somehow, the way the teen kissed him was different from the first they shared. The kiss they shared before was rushed, hungry, nothing but a pair of very horny teens. But the kiss they shared now was slow and chaste. Jack was taking his time tasting him and his hands didn’t make a single move. But Hiccup didn’t mind that. In fact, he liked the pace that Jack was setting. He had an idea where this would lead but at the same he didn’t. He really wasn’t sure, but what he was sure of one thing. He wanted this, whatever this is.

The albino broke the kiss and he placed his forehead on Hiccup’s, their lips an inch from each other. The two of them sharing the same breath. “Tell me your parents aren’t home.” Jack whisper-asked.

“My dad’s not here.” Hiccup answered gulping some air.

“How about your mom then?” Jack asked smiling.

“Passed away when I was a baby. Didn’t get to meet her,” the auburn simply answered.

Jack looked at him, his eyes a fraction wide and then his eyes softened, worry taking over his handsome face. Hiccup never thought he would get that look from Jack of all people. Unlike the people who had heard him say that his mother had passed away when he was young, Jack didn’t say sorry. Because really, that didn’t help. It never helps. The way Jack looked at him, it was like he knew how it actually felt like to lose someone. To have someone taken away from you. Hiccup felt him squeeze his arm lightly and he started kissing him again. Without words, Hiccup understood what Jack was trying to convey. And though he didn’t want to believe it because it would really just hurt, he held on to it. Even for just this moment. That Jack was there for him.

Hiccup wasn’t aware that the albino had carried him until they were already half way the stairs and Jack had asked him which one was his room. Hiccup tapped Jack asking him to put him down and the albino did so. Still kissing, the auburn pulled the teen to the third door to the right. Jack kicked the door close and locked it just to be sure. He pushed the freckled teen to his bed and the albino took off his shirt. Hiccup found himself staring at Jack’s torso. He really was a sight to marvel. Firm muscles decorated the teen’s body and Hiccup found himself growing embarrassed.

Hiccup felt the teen tug his shirt up, but the auburn just pushed it down. Jack tugged again, but Hiccup wouldn’t let him take his shirt off. The freckled teen heard Jack let out a breath and he saw him shaking his head at him. The albino cocked an eye brow but chuckled and moved to kiss Hiccup again. From the auburns lips, he moved to his cheeks and then into his ear licking it and biting it lightly. Hiccup let out a whimper as a shiver ran up his spine. Jack started to nibble his earlobe and the auburn tried to push Jack away but the older teen didn’t stop. Jack moved to trail kisses down to Hiccup’s neck. He bit, sucked, and licked, leaving an assortment of marks on the boy’s freckled skin. Hiccup mewled at what Jack was doing but the albino continued. Hiccup was so focused on what Jack was doing to his neck that he didn’t notice the hands that had pulled off his shirt until his glasses got caught up in them.

Jack laughed and moved to disentangle the teen’s glasses from his shirt. Hiccup quickly covered himself up with his bed sheet and glared at the teen as his muddled brain caught up to the cobalt’s plan. Jack laughed again, obviously amused at the younger’s reaction. He put Hiccup’s glasses back in place and he kissed him on the lips.  Jack’s hands snaked into the sheets and smiled into the kiss as he felt Hiccup’s warm flesh on his fingertips. Hiccup yelped at the sudden cold contact and held onto Jack’s colder than normal hands.

“Come on, won’t you let me see you?” Jack asked as he trailed more kisses on the auburn’s neck, just stopping above the boy’s chest that was covered in his bed sheet.

“There’s nothing to see,” Hiccup replied puffing his cheeks and pressing his lips together.

Jack nuzzled his neck, “Damn it Hic. Can you stop being adorable for one minute? I’m seriously gonna lose it if you don’t. I’m trying so hard to hold back here.”

“Wait, you’re holding back?” Hiccup asked surprised.

“’Course I am. I gotta take this slow or you won’t be able to handle it.” Jack answered. “Now can you let me see you?”

Hiccup let out a breath. “Like I said there’s nothing to see,” the auburn said wrapping the sheets tighter around him.

“There’s plenty to see. Like up to where your constellation-like freckles reach up to,” he said as his fingers traced the line of freckles on his arm. “Or what your skin’s complexion under those clothes. Or there are any other interesting marks on you.”

“I’m all skin and bones,” Hiccup argued.

“I thought so too, but by what my hands are feeling, you aren’t all skin and bones.” Jack said smirking.

“Hah. Yeah right,” the auburn scoffed.

“I’ve already seen you half naked down, you could at least let me see the upper half. I mean, I’ve already shown you mine.” Jack said.

Hiccup opened his mouth for a better argument but quickly closed it. Jack had a point and really, what was there to hide? They had already seen each other in all their glory, there was really no reason to be embarrassed. Reluctantly removing his hands from the sheets Hiccup said in a defeated voice, “Fine.”

Jack grinned finally given access to the auburn’s torso. “I’ll make you feel really good now,” he promised and he started kissing Hiccup on the chest. His tongue tracing Hiccup’s collar bone and leaving bite marks in the process.

Hiccup gasped as he felt Jack’s lips on his nipples. Hiccup’s knees buckled, his fingers entwined in Jack’s white locks as the older teen sucked on his sensitive nub while his free hand kneaded the other. He felt Jack move further down his navel and the teen started to take off his belt. In a few moments Hiccup was left with nothing on except his boxers. Jack cupped his crotch making the auburn moan.

“Seems like you’re quite turned on now huh?” Jack said. He pulled down the boy’s boxers, Hiccup letting out another moan as his throbbing erection brushed against the waistband. Jack wrapped his fingers around the auburn’s cock now leaking with pre-cum. He gave it a slow pump and he smirked as it grew harder with just a simple touch. “You’re actually pretty horny huh freckles?”

“Shut up snowflake. I can perfectly see that bulge on your damn pants. And you call me horny?” Hiccup said irritated and moaned as Jack moved to pump him again. “Would you stop it with the teasing?”

Jack chuckled and dipped his head down, positioning the tip of Hiccup’s erection to his lips. “Why would I when I’m having this much fun?” Before Hiccup could say a word, Jack swallowed half of the boy’s member into his mouth. Hiccup moaned louder and cussed at the sudden feeling of having his cock inside something warm and wet. Jack trailed his tongue on the member, sucking on it. He bobbed his head to the motion and looked at Hiccup. The auburn had his head thrown back, his toes digging into the mattress in pleasure. Hiccup’s finger tugged at Jack’s hair as the albino continued to pleasure the boy. His pushed the member in and out of his mouth, while his hands also pumped and massaged the freckled teen’s scrotum.

Hiccup was reduced to a moaning sweaty mess as Jack worked him. His breath hitched and his body tingling from so much sensation in his nerves. He wanted to tell Jack to stop, that he had enough, but his words would just end up into broken incoherent ones.

“St—Jah—Ha! Nnngg.. Jack—! Ah—hnn—!”

A surprise yelp left his mouth as he felt something probe his entrance. He opened his eyes to look at Jack and found the other teen completely naked. His first thought was, “When the hell did he take his pants off?”, the second was, “Oh gods, was he that big?” and the third, “That’s quite a different color from mine. It looks nice…”

Hiccup saw Jack pouring something from a small bottle into his hand. “J-Jack, what are you—”

“Relax, Hic. Just leave it all to me.” Jack said and he straddled Hiccup. “Take a deep breath for me?”

Hiccup half knew what Jack was about to do and did as he was told. He took in a deep breath and soon Jack pushed a finger inside his hole. The first thing that came to Hiccup’s mind was the pain. His freckled hands were back on Jack’s shoulders and his nails dug into the albino’s skin. Jack stilled his finger until Hiccup nodded and he moved his finger in and out of the boy’s hole stretching him. It didn’t take long before the second finger was in. Hiccup was sitting up now, clinging to Jack while the other placed butterfly kissed on his neck and adding more marks to his body. Hiccup began to start planting kisses on Jack’s neck and giving him his own marks just to distract himself from the pain that was also subsiding slowly. Hiccup would sometimes bite into Jack enough to draw out blood when the older had touched a certain spot that made a different kind of pleasure course through him.

“I think you’re ready now,” Jack said as he slid out three fingers from the auburn.

“Let—Let…me do… it.” Hiccup panted on Jack’s neck.

“You sure?” the teen asked him.

Hiccup only nodded and Jack let him do as he wanted. Hiccup pushed Jack down to lie on the bed as he positioned himself on the older’s erection. Jack’s hands were clasped around the auburn’s thin waist supporting him. Hiccup took in calming breaths feeling Jack’s member prod his entrance. He felt Jack squeeze his waist making him look into those cobalt eyes, a reassuring smile on the teen’s lips. Hiccup gave a small smile and soon he pushed Jack’s member inside of him. Jack let out a moan as he felt Hiccup’s warm walls squeeze his member.

“Shit, you’re so tight. God, it’s amazing. _You_ feel amazing,” Jack said with labored breathing.

Hiccup let himself get used to Jack’s shape. He took another set of calming breaths and pushed the whole of Jack into him. He slowly raised himself, almost taking out the whole thing with Jack protesting but was soon replaced with a much louder moan as Hiccup plunged Jack’s member inside him again. Hiccup moved his hips, bobbing up and down on Jack’s cock, starting with a slow rhythm and gradually increasing his pace. Jack started to tease his nipples again, making Hiccup mewl and his breath would hitch.

Hiccup with his lack of athleticism could feel himself losing the strength to move. Jack realized this and kissing Hiccup on the lips switched their positions at the same time. Jack spread Hiccup’s legs further and he angled himself to hit that magical spot. With his first thrust, Hiccup keened and Jack knew he hit it. He thrust in and out of the auburn earning moans of pleasure that grew louder and louder as he repeatedly hit  the auburn’s prostate.

Hiccup felt tears on his cheeks. He wondered if that really came with sex. He knew he wasn’t in pain, because Jack made sure he was screaming his lungs out in utter pleasure. He felt Jack’s hand on his throbbing member again and the albino pumped him. Perfectly timing his thrust with the movement of his hand. Jack’s pace quickened and Hiccup could do nothing but hold on. He bit into Jack’s shoulder to muffle his screams, because he knew he was being really loud and gods he didn’t need his neighbors hearing him. His hips moved to meet each of Jack’s thrust and he could hear Jack moaning his name and other words that don’t really make sense since he wasn’t able to form any.

Hiccup’s room was filled with his and Jack’s voices and the sound their bodies slapping against each other. He looked at Jack’s glistening form and he felt a sudden pride grow inside him. Because let’s face it, someone like Jack would never really want to have anything to do with an outcast like him. And having sex with him? That was bordering to impossibility. But he was there on top of him and riding him like there was no tomorrow. Hiccup would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t admire the jock. Admiring Jackson “Jack Frost” Overland was inevitable. He was good-looking, great at sports and seemed to get along well with people. His grades weren’t also that bad. He was the king of their school and every girl dreamed of going out with him. But Hiccup would be fooling himself if he thought Jack wanted more than what was happening between them right now. Because Hiccup knew there was really no room for a person like him in Jack’s life.

Jack leaned into Hiccup kissing the auburn. Hiccup felt his orgasm build up and with a pump and a thrust hitting his prostate, he let out one last loud moan and his cum came pouring out of him. Jack came a few thrusts later, and Hiccup felt himself being filled to the brim by Jack’s seed. Jack rode his release into Hiccup to the last drop. The albino collapsed on top of the auburn as he pulled out. Hiccup knew he would be changing his sheets as Jack’s cum spilled out of him and onto his bed. Jack pulled him into a hug, pressing their heated bodies together. Jack planted a soft kiss on the auburn’s forehead and Hiccup sighed. He wrapped his thin arms around Jack and closed his eyes for a bit.

Something heavy jumped on them, immediately startling the two teens. Hiccup sat up and a pair of acid green eyes stared back at him. Jack was also sitting up now, a hand placed on his chest where his heart was positioned.

“Oh crap, that scared me,” Jack said and he looked at the “thing” that had interrupted their quiet. Acid green eyes looked at Jack with disdain and the teen laughed nervously.

Hiccup scratched the back of his cat’s ear and the night black Main Coon purred in pleasure. Jack was about to give the cat a pet when the feline’s eyes glared at him again. Hiccup giggled when Jack drew his hand back immediately. Jack looked at him with a pout.

“Your cat hates me.” Jack said disappointed.

“Maybe Toothless knows you came into the house uninvited,” Hiccup says petting the cat.

“Okay that makes me wonder, I locked your room’s door. So how in the world did he get in?” the albino questioned.

Hiccup shrugged honestly not knowing the answer.

The albino’s eyes grew wide at a realization. “OH. MY. GOD. YOUR CAT IS A FREAKING PERVERT.” Jack suddenly exclaimed looking at the cat in utter disbelief.

“Toothless is not a pervert,” Hiccup defended his best friend.

“Uh yeah, he is. Can’t you see? Toothless, as you so affectionately call him, was here the whole time. Oh frostbite,” Jack said burying his face into the sheets. “I feel so embarrassed having a cat watch me fuck his owner.”

Hiccup’s face was suddenly overtaken by a severe blush. “J-Jack!”

The older teen peeked out of the sheets and smirked at Toothless. “You sly little fur ball. You want to see your master in action and moan that badly?” Jack poked the cat’s side and Toothless hissed at him quickly scratching him on the nose. “Ow!”

Hiccup laughed and picked up the cat to set him down on the floor while giving him a last scratch to the ear. “Serves you right,” and the boy stuck his tongue out at the other who was rubbing his nose.

Jack tackled him, effectively trapping him under the white haired teen. Jack started to plant kisses on Hiccup again until he decided to just nuzzle the boy’s neck.

“Never took you to be the cuddling type,” Hiccup stated as he absentmindedly ran his hand through Jack’s soft locks.

“That only proves the saying: Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The teen replied into the auburn’s neck. “Next time, we’re doing this in my house.”

Hiccup glanced at Jack whose face was still hidden in his neck. Did he really just hear him say that? He thought that after doing him this “favor” it would be the last. He didn’t expect that Jack would suggest they do it again. “Why in your house?” he asked him just to be safe.

“Because freckles, I don’t wanna play voyeurism with your perverted cat.” Jack answered in a muffled voice.

Hiccup laughed and disentangled himself from the white haired teen. “Come on, we have to clean up,” he said as he sat up and made his way to pick up his clothes but found his legs unable to support his weight and he fell.

“Hic are you alright?” Jack asked worriedly and was beside Hiccup in an instant.

“I just noticed. I can’t feel my legs.” Hiccup plainly stated as frown formed on his face.

“Well, that’s only normal. Or so I’ve read.” Jack said as he lifted the auburn bridal style.

Hiccup shook his head at the albino. “Just get me to bathroom so we can clean up. And this time you owe me a favor. A compensation for making my legs this fudging numb.”

“Okay, okay,” Jack chuckled as he placed the auburn into the bathtub. “What would that be? Shower sex I presume?” he said grinning.

“Uh-huh. Dream on snowflake. I won’t be having sex with you in a while.”

“Aww, and I was getting excited for nothing.” Jack pouted. “Then what favor are you gonna ask me?”

“You’re doing my laundry. Don’t worry it’s just the sheets you stained.”

“Hmm,” the teen mocked thought and nodded. “Deal and then you’ll owe me a favor!”

Hiccup just shook his head but accepted their situation. He doesn’t have any idea when this will end. Looking at it logically, the favors really won’t stop. They would always end up owing the other. It was a never ending cycle. It was only a matter of having one of them ask not to return the favor anymore. And Hiccup knew it would be Jack who was going to say that. He doesn’t know how long this will continue, but he’ll just have to savor every second of it. I mean, who was he kidding? There was no way this was going to happen again. So what if they were just going to be fuck buddies? At least once in his life, he could say that someone like Jack became a part of him. Even if it ended up hurting him a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? Please do leave some comments. I wanna know how I'm doing with something in this genre(?). he-he. Thanks for reading!


	3. The Four Corners of a Cramped Stall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A missed call. A cry in the boy's john. Jack sees a different side of Hiccup and things take a sudden unexpected turn. But the snow haired teen doesn't seem to mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters in a single day. Well, this was supposed to be a one-shot. But with the amount of words I've written I decided to just divide it into several chapters.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD or RotG.

Their lives continued on as normal. Hiccup’s attention was divided between classes, art club and robotics, and there’s also the occasional beating he received from his life time bully Daggur Oswald or Daggur the Deranged as he so nicknamed him. There’s really no elaborate explanation why he chose to call him that. The name speaks for itself. For as long as he could remember, the guy had always been the constant thing that caused the lad physical pain. From shoves to punches, from tripping to kicks, he even made him a practice board for his dagger throwing. He had tried to drown him for fun and locked him up in their attic for hours when Hiccup’s father brought him over “to play” while the two older men went out for business. And he always had that crazy wicked smile, thus the name deranged.

Jack on the other had focused on his sports, hanging out with his friends, staying cool and popular  and pulling on some pranks all the while keeping his grades up. Of course he also helped out in his adoptive father’s toy shop and his somewhat uncle’s day care on weekends. He also took in a babysitting job from their neighbor across and would drop by a family friend’s coffee shop to give a hand.

But in both the teens’ lives, there was an addition to their routines. Jack would drop by Hiccup’s house whenever his dad was out and ask for a _favor_. Hiccup would find himself sneaking into Jack’s place to the insistence of the white haired teen so he could return the _favor_. There were also times when Jack would call the younger to the third floor CR to get rid of some “morning tension”. The two thought that _this_ relationship was only limited to being fuck buddies. But along the way, Jack stopped initiating anything sexual. It would last weeks without sex, and Jack would just drop by to hang out. He brought food and movies to watch in which Jack would cuddle Hiccup somewhere in the middle of it and the two would end up making out. But it never went further than that. What surprised Hiccup the most though was the fact that he would find Jack in his room asking for some help in his homework. The last thing Hiccup expected them to be was study partners. Every day after practice Jack would climb up to his window into his room and Hiccup would start tutoring him. It’s not that Hiccup hated it or he was disappointed for the lack of more intimate contact, in fact he liked this kind of thing better. Somehow, it felt like they were real friends—or that they were dating—instead of just two guys reaping out the sexual benefits from each other and naming their relationship as being friends just to sugar coat it.

Of course Hiccup knew that they weren’t really friends. I mean, seriously. What kind of friends would ignore each other in school? There was no such thing as secret friends. It was either they were friends or they weren’t. But the auburn knew he shouldn’t ask for that. It wouldn’t just raise questions, but it would also jeopardize Jack’s reputation. Though that wasn’t the only thing that Hiccup worried about when he starts asking for more. Because he knew, that when the cat’s out of the bag, he’s most likely the one that would suffer. Most of the student body would place Jack on a damn golden pedestal and Hiccup would be the one having the scarlet letter. People already didn’t like him for being weak, clumsy, and a sarcastic fishbone prick. He really didn’t want to give the whole world more reason to hate him. The gods already hated him anyway. So he kept quiet.

* * *

It was Wednesday after school and Jack had just gotten off from practice when he decided to give Hiccup a call. The auburn’s phone rang for eight times, but he never picked up. Jack called Hiccup three more times but he still didn’t answer. He worriedly looked at his phone, a sleeping photo of the auburn taking over his phone’s screen—one he took when he decided to give the boy a surprise visit but he found him asleep on top of his sketchpad with an unfinished drawing of Jack. It was one of those moments when Jack would smile and feel his heart beating in that unfamiliar fast rhythm. It scared him at first but he got used to it and he didn’t understand why but he loved how his heart was beating like that for the auburn. It seemed…right.

“You okay Jack? You’ve been staring at your phone with a really worried expression,” one of his team mates said as they left the locker room.

“Nah, I’m fine. No worries Jimbo,” Jack replied to the brunette and slid his phone into his pocket.

 “I don’t buy it man.” Jim said eyeing him speculatively. “You know if you’re so worried about your girlfriend not picking up, you could just drop by her house or call one her friends.”

Jack smiled at his friend. Jim Hawkins was one of the people that he had bestowed the title of “friend”. Despite knowing a lot of people, the albino didn’t easily trust anyone. Jack met the brunette when he was looking for a part-time job so he could help out his mom and knowing that his Uncle Sandy’s coffee shop was low on staff at the moment, Jack referred him to his uncle. It took a year before he and Jim began to call each other on a first name basis even if they were teammates and from that their friendship grew.

But even if he and the brunette were close friends, Jack didn’t tell him everything. Though he did have a feeling that Jim knew what was going on with him. And girlfriend? If only it were that simple. “Okay, you got me,” Jack laughed. “Just a little worried since she usually picks up at the first ring.”

Jim gave him a worried look. “Then check on her. I know how much of a fucking worrywart you are,” the brunette said giving him a playful punch.

Jack returned the punch and the two laughed even more. “Whatever dude. I still got something I forgot in my locker, you go on ahead.”

The brunette smirked rolling his eyes but didn’t ask any more questions. “Just remember, the school closes at seven! Don’t let your dick do the thinking!”

Jack flipped the bird at Jim which caused the brunette to laugh even more. With a last wave his friend was gone and Jack made his way to the art room. He figured that the brunette must’ve been busy doing another art project. When he arrived into the club room, he found it empty but he did see that some of the supplies were put out meaning that someone had been here. He spotted a familiar satchel in one of the seats and he suddenly felt uneasiness churn in the pit of his stomach. Jack went near it and the feeling intensified when he realized that it was the auburn’s bag.

He took his phone out and started to dial the teen’s number again. It rang but still no answer came, he felt a little relieved when he didn’t hear Hiccup’s ring tone echo inside the room. That meant that he had his phone but Jack couldn’t’ stop worrying why the freckled teen wouldn’t pick up. He started to pace the room, thinking of places where the boy could be. The library was a no, since it was already closed and the librarian was a strict old woman. His usual spot under the tree at the back of the school was also not it, because it was getting dark and the auburn hated being bitten by bugs. He’s already in the art room, he didn’t spot him by his locker and the rooftop was off limits since the last bell. So where was he? He groaned when a thought struck him and cussed himself as he grabbed the auburn’s satchel making his way to the third floor. At the last flight of stairs he tried calling Hiccup again and he let out a relieved sigh when he heard the faint music of a soundtrack from the auburn’s favorite dragon movie. (It was really adorable how fascinated the teen was with dragons). But like the first few times, Hiccup didn’t pick up.

Jack gently pushed the door of the CR open as the music played the last notes and what was left was the sound of panting and sobbing. Jack had never seen or heard Hiccup cry, so when he was greeted with the sound he felt his heart being crushed. Right then and there, Jack knew he never wanted to hear Hiccup cry. The snow haired teen walked to the stall where he knew Hiccup would be in.

“Hic?” Jack called. Asking if he was okay or there was stupid. It was obvious that the teen wasn’t fine and he was definitely there, because no one else came into this place except for the two of them. “Please answer me.” He said placing his forehead on the door. “Come on, open up. Let me in,” he added when the auburn still wouldn’t answer.

“Go away. I don’t want you seeing me like this,” the auburn answered in a throaty voice.

“Why?” the older teen asked.

“I just don’t. I don’t want anyone seeing me like this,” Hiccup replied.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Wasn’t that enough of an answer? I don’t want to show this face to anyone. I just can’t let y— Just leave me alone already! Go away, Jack!” the auburn said exasperated.

“Just tell me, Hic. Come on,” Jack insisted. “I’m not moving from this spot until you open up and let me in.”

When Hiccup still didn’t open the door, Jack slammed a fist on the stall. “Damn it, Hiccup. Open this door or I swear to Odin I will kick this down! You’re worrying the shit out of me!” The albino let out a sigh. “Please.” He added in a defeated tone.

He heard Hiccup sob again and in a muffled voice the auburn said, “I just can’t let you see me like this. I never want anyone to see me like this.”

“What do you mean by ‘like this’?” Jack asked softly.

“This…this vulnerable. I don’t want anyone seeing how much in pain I am. How weak I am. I just don’t want to give them the satisfaction that—no matter how much I try to hide it—they’ve done a great job at breaking me.”

“Hic open up,” Jack said.

“You’re so persistent.” Hiccup said annoyed and sniffled.

Jack smiled. “That’s one of my great sides.”

“More like infuriating.”

“Will you let me in now?”

“You won’t leave me alone, will you?”

“Nope, I’m not going anywhere except inside this stall,” Jack answered.

“Jackass.”

Jack chuckled and the door clicked. The albino suddenly remembered the first time he went into this bathroom, but unlike before Hiccup was sitting on the toilet with both legs up and he hugged them. His face was buried into his knees, hiding it from Jack. The teen walked into the stall but made no move to close the door. He placed both his hands on the auburns face and slowly raised it. He felt his heart tightened as he saw the bruise on the auburn’s cheek and the sight on his bloodied nose. There was a cut on his lip and another just above his brow. His blood boiled in anger and he tried so hard to keep a straight face.

“I look awful so stop staring,” Hiccup said lowering his head again.

Jack pulled Hiccup up and he saw how the teen winced. “Sorry,” he said and held Hiccup in a gentler manner. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He lifted Hiccup to sit on the sink and Jack grabbed some tissue and soaked it a bit. He dabbed it on Hiccup’s tear and blood streaked face, careful not to place too much pressure so he wouldn’t hurt the auburn. Hiccup stayed quiet the whole time and avoided to look into Jack’s face. When Hiccup’s face was free from the tears and blood, Jack leaned closer to the auburn and placed butterfly kisses on his injuries. Hiccup rested his forehead on Jack’s shoulder and the teen hugged him lightly and placed another kiss on the auburn’s hair.

Jack pushed Hiccup away lightly so he could look into the boy’s jade eyes. He gave him a soft smile. “I’ll lend you my hoodie, unless you want to go home with that blood stained shirt.”

Hiccup puffed his cheeks and frowned at Jack causing the older to chuckle. “Turn around. I’m not changing in front of you.”

Jack cocked an eyebrow but shook his head and turned around. He took his hoodie off and handed it to the auburn without looking. He could hear Hiccup grunt as he lifted his shirt up. The boy seemed to be having difficulty with taking the shirt off, thinking that his glasses got tangled up in it, Jack decided to help the kid and just endure a scolding from him. But instead of helping the auburn, Jack found himself staring at the teen’s freckled torso. His milky complexion now stained with blue and violet. Jack came closer to Hiccup and he started to trail kisses on every bruise on the auburn’s torso. He felt Hiccup flinch at the sudden contact.

“J-Jack? What are you doing?” Hiccup asked when he finally got the shirt off from getting stuck on his head.

Jack’s hand hovered on a large bruise on Hiccup’s side and he looked into those pretty jade eyes. “Who did this?” he asked his voice frighteningly calm.

“You really don’t have to—”

“Who did it?” Jack asked again, his controlled voice now seeping with the anger he tried to suppress.

Hiccup could see Jack’s hand clenched into a fist so tight it was white. The auburn looked down and answered in a barely audible whisper. “It was Daggur.”

“That asshole,” Jack said through gritted teeth. “Why aren’t you telling this to anyone? You should report that son of a—”

“You have no idea what that guy is capable of!” Hiccup cut through. “He won’t just beat the crap out of me. If I tell on him, he’ll— he’ll—” but the auburn couldn’t finish as he started to sob once again.

Jack wrapped his arms around the freckled teen, letting him sob into his chest. Hiccup gripped his shirt tightly and the albino shushed him, trying to calm him. Jack kissed the auburn’s forehead as his hands brushed through Hiccup’s hair. “You can’t let him continue doing this to you. If you don’t stand up for yourself, nothing will ever change.”

“It’s not as easy as you think it.” Hiccup answered.

“Nothing is ever easy,” Jack said and looked into Hiccup’s face. He wiped the tears streaming down his cheek with his thumb and smiled. “I’ll give you a ride home and I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

“I had a thought you’d say that.” Hiccup said with a small smile. Jack grinned wider finally seeing the auburn smile. He helped Hiccup put on his hoodie and he led him out of the boy’s john. They dropped by the arts room to clean up the place before leaving.

The ride to Hiccup’s house was quiet, neither of the teens spoke, but Jack held Hiccup’s hand the whole time. Giving it light squeezes to tell the auburn that he was here. When they were in front of the younger teen’s house, Jack walked him to the porch. The house had its lights off meaning that the boy’s father was still not home.

Hiccup stood awkwardly in front of Jack. Jack on the other hand, didn’t know what to do next. He knew he had to go now, because Hiccup always told him that it was risky seeing him in their front door and that’s why he always used the back. But for some reason he couldn’t understand, Jack found himself unable to move. He just stood there, waiting for something. Whatever that something is.

Hiccup ran a hand through his auburn hair nervously and glanced at Jack before looking down again. “Uh t-thanks and sorry for taking up your uh time.”

Jack smiled and scratched the back of his neck. Why was he getting embarrassed all of a sudden? “Don’t mention it, Hic. I was glad to help.”

Hiccup looked up to Jack. Cobalt eyes met jade ones. He noticed a faint blush on Hiccup’s cheeks but before he could make a teasing remark about it. Hiccup pulled him by the collar and planted a quick kiss on his lips. Jack’s eyes widened and before he could even ask for more of the kiss, Hiccup broke away and rushed inside his home. Jack stood there, staring at the door and a blush crept up his pale cheeks. He touched his lips where Hiccup’s lips were pressed earlier and an ear splitting smile curved onto it. As he walked back to his car, he couldn’t stop the giddy feeling overtaking him. His heart was banging on his chest happily and the smile wouldn’t go away.

This was the first time Hiccup had kissed him. Without the teasing, without the provocation and without the bribing. It was the first time Hiccup kissed him where their minds weren’t muddled with carnal desires. And Jack couldn’t help himself from wanting more of that. And it was at this moment he realized why he had pursued Hiccup that day. Jack couldn’t believe it himself, but it was the truth. Jackson Overland was in love with Henry Haddock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? (It makes me laugh how much I say that.) Thank you for reading! Do leave some comments ^^


	4. An Epiphany of Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hiccup starts to understand his emotions and aren't too happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, I finally updated it and I am really sorry for taking this long. The chapter was supposed to be longer but I figured I should just cut it into two. I really apologize for the long wait. And hope you like it. R&R fellas and thank you!!
> 
> Quick question guys, I am fairly new here and I was wondering how do you put links on the author's note? Like a how a word would redirect you to a certain address? Sorry for the randomness. But I appreciate whoever answers it. ^^
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon or Rise of the Guardians.

Hiccup slipped on the door and slowly slumped to the floor when he was inside the house and out of Jack’s sight. _What did I just do?_ He kissed him. He couldn’t believe he actually kissed him. It’s not like it was their first time, but. . .it was the first time he voluntarily did it. Didn’t he promise he wouldn’t do anything that could lead to Jack finding out about his feelings? Yes, _feelings_. At first he thought he just admired him, because who wouldn’t? He was Jackson Overland. Star of the soccer team, heartthrob of the school and all-around-good guy—if you dismiss the few pranks he did. The student populace both looked up to him and envied him. Hiccup was no stranger to a person’s charm but he knew when he just found them good-looking and nothing else. But Jack…he was somehow different.

He was the first ever person Hiccup had spent more time with than his own father and his companion of a cat Toothless. Jack was the closest thing he had to a friend. He liked him as a person. He had seen things that Jack had never showed in public. Some of these things he found out were how Jack liked romantic movies because he grew up watching it with his mother, he was a diehard Disney fan even to the point of knowing every song from each movie by heart, he like chocolate mint ice cream so much he could eat a whole gallon of it on his own. Jack was a total kid at heart, the childishness he had shown at school was nothing compared to when they were alone together. He also wasn’t like any of the other jocks who picked on other kids and smooched from their homeworks. He wasn’t such a prick like Hiccup initially thought he was, though he could be annoying at times. Jack looked beyond a person’s appearance and into their heart.

Hiccup thought that he wanted this arrangement with Jack to stay because he didn’t want him to leave him. That after using him, he could just throw him away. He knew that he shouldn’t be hurting like this at the thought. He had agreed for this kind of setting between them. Hiccup knew what’s waiting for him at the finish line, so he had no reason to feel this way. But he didn’t foresee something like this to happen. Hiccup felt stupid for not noticing it and now it was too late. Before, he wanted to ask Jack’s friendship and he knew he couldn’t for his own good and for the albino’s. But now, he just didn’t want friendship. It was the path that this kind of relationship ultimately ended up in and Hiccup was too dumb to see it until it was slapping him in the face and there was no backing out. He wanted Jack more than anything he had wanted in his whole life. He wanted this to last longer, for this to be more than it actually is.

Because Hiccup, in all his obliviousness, had finally realized that _he_ was in love with Jack. He couldn’t deny it. There was no point in doing so. It would only make his life difficult if he tried to deny what he was feeling. But accepting it didn’t mean that it was going to make his life any easier, sure it lessened the emotional load. It didn’t however lessen the pain of what results harboring these feelings would lead to. Nothing but heartbreak was waiting for him in the end. And the reasons? Quite simple actually: 1) Jack may be fucking him but that didn’t mean he was into dating guys, especially guys like Hiccup who have no ounce of attractive bones in them; 2) There was nothing but sexual attraction between them and that doesn’t seem to make a good foundation for a relationship in Hiccup’s book; and 3) let’s face it, if Jack was into guys why would he go for him? There were a lot of other people out there who are far suited for Jack than him. There was no competing because Hiccup would certainly, without a doubt, lose.

Why do first loves always end up being unrequited ones? Pushing himself up from the floor, Hiccup made his way towards his room. He went straight to the bathroom to thoroughly clean himself and treat the god awful injuries he had required from that deranged teenager. He took off Jack’s hoodie and held it in his hands. Hiccup brought it to his face and sniffed that fresh wintery scent the albino always carried. Yup, he definitely had it hard.

 _Pain, love it!_ He thought sarcastically and rolled his eyes folding the hoodie of the boy he now loves.

* * *

 

The next day Hiccup took much longer than he usually did inside the bathroom putting on make up to mask the injury on his face. Years of being beat up by Daggur had taught him the wonders of make-up and with his naturally artistic hand a few tutorials on Youtube and magazines had made him into a sort-of expert. The school drama club had discovered this skill of his and ever since he helped out as a make-up artist for the cast and even gave a hand in building the set. No one had really praised him of his skill except for a few teachers, but who was he to complain? At least someone had bothered asking for his help when he seemed to be ignored and despised by most of the student populace. Recognition didn’t matter that much to him, just knowing that he helped was enough. Besides there was only one person in his life that he wanted to win the of approval and it was none other than his father.

As he walked down to the kitchen, his father was up with a newspaper and a mug of coffee in hand. Hiccup dropped his bag on a seat and proceeded to cook breakfast for him and his father. It wasn’t long until he served a plate of eggs and bacons and another one that had fresh toasts. He settled himself on his seat after pouring another cup of coffee for Stoick, his father drinks two mugs every morning. The man gave him a quick once-over, seeing that his son looks just as he always did he returned to reading his morning paper. Hiccup’s face contained no sign of injury except for the spit lip and his overgrown bangs covered the cut on his eyebrow hiding it perfectly from Stoick’s sight. He kept it a secret from his dad. He was already disappointed that his boy was a runt—all skin and bones, no extra guts and glory on the side. Compared to his father’s massive size he was a toothpick. He was also a big softy and easily frightened. He was the complete opposite of his Viking descent that his father always blabbed about. And adding being beat into a pulp to the equation… No, he didn’t want to embarrass or disappoint his father any further.

The teen quickly finished his breakfast and grabbed his keys from the hook by the kitchen entrance. He bid his father farewell. The man lifted his gaze from what he was reading on the newspaper and only gave him a grunt and a small nod in response. There was no “Be careful”, “Take care” or even “Have a great day”. His father wasn’t big on showing affection or verbal communication. Hiccup couldn’t even remember the last time he had sat down and talked to his dad. In fact, he had no recollection of such things. The auburn nodded, acknowledging his father’s response and went out of the house. Toothless had followed him up to the bus stop and left promptly when the big yellow vehicle had pulled up in front of him. Of course, the feline didn’t leave without getting his affectionate scratch from his human. Hiccup climbed the steps and took the first empty seat his eyes laid upon. No one wanted to sit next to the runt so he was glad that there was a seat that was completely empty. At least he didn’t have to endure standing for the whole ride like the last few times. The bus driver couldn’t care less if one student was denied his seat. As long as he brought them to school safely, he was getting paid.

The bus ride to school was full of buzzing chatter and by the time they had reached their destination, Hiccup’s seat was littered with crumpled paper balls. He waited for everyone to file out of the bus before he did. He received a few hits on the head from some lowly bully he didn’t even know that passed by him. The guy was annoying him as heck but as far as he knows, Daggur was the only bully he should worry about. The teen pulled out a small plastic bag from his bag and proceeded to pick up the paper balls they had thrown at him. It only took him minutes to complete the task. The driver was already used to him doing that and he let him be. He was being a huge help at lessening the trash the bus driver had to clean up. He gave the man a nod before climbing down the bus. He passed by a trashcan and threw the bag into it making sure that he had put it in the right bin.

The moment he stepped into the school building, he felt his phone in his pocket vibrate. He dug it out and saw that it was a message from Jack calling him to go up into the Loo—which is code for the boys’ bathroom on the third floor. Hiccup felt his heart speed up seeing the older teen’s name. What could he possibly want now? Being on the soccer team, Jack was expected to come to school an hour early for morning practice. It was common for the teen to send him a text like this. They had released some “morning tension” for quite a few times. But doing it when Jack knows his body was still hurting from his injuries? He didn’t know what to think. Still, he wrote out a quick reply telling him he’ll be there right after getting and putting his stuff in his locker. His phone vibrated again and Jack replied with a winking sticker. Hiccup rolled his eyes but a smile tugged at his lips. Five minutes later he was pushing the doors of the bathroom open and was greeted by the sight of Jack leaning on the sinks. He looked like a model with his simple white black-striped shirt, topped with light blue polo and brown pants that hugged his long legs beautifully and brought out his tight magnificent buttocks. A dazzling smile stretched on his face as his cobalt eyes landed on the auburn and Hiccup felt himself flush as he realized that Jack caught him staring openly at him. He quickly looked away which only deepened the idea that he was guilty of the act.

Jack walked towards him and his hand reached out to gently turn his face to look at him. “That’s weird, you’re bruise healed up pretty fast,” he commented inspecting his cheek with furrowed brows.

“It’s not completely healed yet. I just covered it up with make-up.” Hiccup held Jack’s hand and removed it from holding his chin. Jack looked surprised hearing the information.

“You know how to use make-up?” the albino asked him dubiously.

“It’s basically an art too. So yes, I do know how to use it.” Hiccup pouted and glared at the jock who smiled widely and dipped his head to plant a kiss on the auburn’s lips. The Viking descendant was caught off guard and his eyes widened. He pushed Jack away and ducked his head, but his hands remained on the albino’s chest clutching the fabric of his shirt. Why was his face heating up? They’ve kissed many times already, heck they’d seen each other naked and fucked. So why was he getting embarrassed here?

“You never fail to amuse me.” He heard the teen say and he pulled him into a hug. Jack was mindful of his injuries and didn’t hug him too hard. “You’re so fucking adorable you know that?”

“Sadly, you’re the one who only sees that,” Hiccup replied sarcastically. “You should get your eyes checked.”

“They’re the ones who should get their eyes checked.” Hiccup pictured Jack rolling his eyes as he said that. The albino’s hands snaked their way up to his neck and soon his gaze was lifted up to meet Jack’s. He was smiling softly at him and his eyes gleamed. “But I guess I shouldn’t complain. I could keep you all to myself. Every strand and every inch.”

“Jeez, now I feel like I sold myself to a naughty winter sprite.” The auburn shook his head at the albino. Jack chuckled and stole another kiss from the shorter teen. Hiccup groaned at contact and bit on Jack’s lower lip softly. He could feel the albino’s smile and Jack’s tongue swiped at his upper lip. There was no stopping him when he was in the mood, so Hiccup relented and kissed back.

Jack hummed in content and he pulled Hiccup to him, pressing their bodies softly and closing whatever little space that separated them. Hiccup’s hands inched up and met in the older’s snow-white tresses. His fingers played and tugged at Jack’s hair as their kiss deepened. The albino’s hands found their way under Hiccup’s shirt and gently traced the freckled skin that was still painted with darkening bruises. Hiccup moaned feeling the teen’s cold fingers and tugged Jack’s hair breaking away from the kiss. He rested his head onto the albino’s chest and panted. His arms wrapped around Jack’s neck effectively hugging the teen. The albino buried his face onto the crook of his neck and took in his scent. He could feel his breath on his skin forming goose bumps and he shut his eyes savoring the moment.

“Let’s skip school.” The teen whispered.

“Why would you want to do that?” Hiccup asked, idly twirling a lock of white hair.

“Wow, that’s new. You’re not scolding me.”  He nipped the auburn’s neck leaving a faint mark that could be easily hidden by his oversized shirt—that is if he didn’t lean too much. “Am I finally rubbing off on you?”

Hiccup scoffed at the albino’s words. “Like that will ever happen. I’m just giving you a chance to tell me what reasons you have for wanting to skip school. If they’re stupid, I’m gonna scold you. If not, well let’s just see.”

Jack smirked and pulled away to look directly in the teen’s jade eyes. “I want us to go somewhere… in public.”

Hiccup blinked and his face took on a frightened expression. “Y-y-you want to go out in p-pub-public?” the boy stuttered out. Jack nodded in response. “Wouldn’t that get us in trouble? They’re going to report us if someone who knows you will see us and which by the way is everyone! And if my dad hears about me skipping school he is going to _kill_ me.”

The albino waved a hand dismissively. “Please, don’t you think I thought of that before proposing the idea of skipping?” he questioned cocking a brow.

“You don’t seem like someone who’s a heavy planner.”

“You’re underestimating me Hic.”

“Uh-huh. Now, where exactly is this place you’re going to take me—assuming that I agree to your whims—where no one knows who you are so we—specifically me— won’t get in trouble?” The auburn asked deadpan.

“It’s a secret,” he said simply.

“That’s not very convincing Jackson Overland.”

“Just trust me on this okay? I won’t get us in trouble. I promise.” He raised a hand as if taking an oath and his other hand drew a cross mark over his heart. “But if you don’t want to skip class then just skip club hour. I’ll text you where to meet me. Coach Parr’s letting us out early, says it’s his son Jack-Jack’s birthday.”

Hiccup gave the older teen a skeptical look, “You seem awfully insistent about this.”

“I just want to hang out with you outside the four corners of your bedroom or mine _or_ this bathroom,” Jack gestured the room and shot him a pleading look. “Can’t we do that? Even for once?”

Hiccup knew he should have said “no” to him. Wasn’t the thing going on between them exclusively for secluded places or behind-private-doors kind of business? Hanging around in public would only risk the discovery of their “relationship”—even if Jack promised it wouldn’t. But the auburn just found himself nodding and conceding to the albino’s request because he knew, deep inside he wanted for this kind of thing to happen too.

“Great! I’ll see you later.” Jack was practically bouncing on his feet at Hiccup’s answer. He really seemed happy that they would get to hang out somewhere different for once—or somewhere out in the open to be precise. The teen’s excitement was infecting him and a smile was beginning to stretch on his pinkish lips. “I’m gonna go ahead. Still need to get my stuff from my locker.”

Jack pulled him for another ten second kiss and made his way towards the door. Before exiting he glanced back towards the freckled teen, his cobalt eyes beaming. “It’s a date okay? Don’t forget!” Realizing the word he had used, a blush slowly started to creep up his pale cheeks. He didn’t wait for Hiccup to reply and quickly left.

Hiccup only watched as the door swing closed and Jack was no longer in his sight. He stood there frozen as he replayed the teen’s last words to him. _He just called it a date. We’re going on a date. Oh dear gods of Asgard we’re going on a date._ Hiccup dropped to the floor, his arms hugging his knees and his face buried into them. He tried to suppress the full on blush that was dreading to paint his face but it was no use. Jack asked him out and he said “yes”. He felt stupid as it finally settled in his addled brain. But he couldn’t stop the shit eating grin that was cracking up his usually apathetic face. He was going to go on a date with Jack.


	5. Stating the Obvious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jackson Overland is painfully obvious and he doesn't know that "they" know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I would like to apologize for not updating this story soon. Some problems came up and I don't need to elaborate, but it just got me caught up and I couldn't find the time or the energy to write. So I'm really sorry.
> 
> But here it is now, and I do hope you guys enjoy it. I have also thought real hard of what I want for this story, I made an outline for each chapter now and I would be updating in a weeks time. Expect the next chapter up by Thursday or Friday. Well, it's Friday here around two in the afternoon, so you guys do the math. Not my strong suit he-he.
> 
> And thank you to those who stuck with this story! I love you guys and if it weren't for you, I guess I wouldn't have pushed myself to get my shit together and do this thing. Shout out to faisyah865!
> 
> By the way, just a quick question, how do you put links here? Like it's just a word but it redirects you to something else? Yeah, I still haven't learned to that here yet. I'd appreciate the help. ^^
> 
> Well sorry for the long note and possible grammatical errors. Again, enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Jack couldn’t stop smiling. He knew it was kind of freaking his friends out—it wasn’t every day that Jackson Overland stared at nothing in particular sighing dreamily, laughing out of the blue and looking like nothing but a love sick puppy—but he couldn’t blame them. He was acting a little out of himself. Okay, maybe not a little but really out of himself. He knew this kind of behavior was not going to go unnoticed by the crowd, especially with his friends. But who cares? He was happy! Can’t he at least have the liberty to express that in himself? Unfortunately, some of his teachers didn’t find this behavior of his quite approving.

“Mr. Overland, if you would please stop staring at the board smiling like an oaf and pay attention to class! Or would you rather prefer serving time in detention later?” Mr. Doppler said in his most threatening and reprimanding voice.

The albino immediately snapped out of his thoughts filled with cute freckles, beautiful jade eyes and an adorable snarky short auburn and looked at the lanky man in front. He didn’t want to spend his time in detention and be late for his date. A smile tugged at his lips but he quickly composed himself and looked sheepishly at their teacher.

“Sorry, Mr. Doppler I was busy thinking of something,” Jack apologized rubbing the back of his neck embarrassed.

“And may I ask what could possibly occupy your mind to lose concentration on our lesson?” Mr. Doppler asked expectantly.

“Freckles.” The albino blushed. He had no time to filter his mind and said the first thing—or rather the only thing—he could think of. The class erupted in laughter as Jack saw Jim give him an odd look before shaking his head smiling.

“Well, I’ll be. Unfortunately, I’m not covering biology to entertain any questions related to _freckles_. But I think you can ask Mr. Stein on that,” the man said as a smile graced his lips. Somehow, Jack had a guess that his teacher found the blush painting his pale cheeks amusing. Mr. Doppler then turned his attention back to the class addressing them, “Now, everyone settle down and let’s return to our lesson.”

After that, Jack tried his best to pay attention to his classes. By lunch, Jim could no longer keep his act of indifference. As the pair was switching their things in the lockers, the brunette smirked.

“Well, someone seemed to have woken up on the right side of the bed,” Jim remarked containing his urge to fully tease his best friend.

“Wow, we’ve met in soccer practice earlier and this is the only time you comment on my mood?” Jack closed his locker raising a brow at the brunette.

Jim chuckled. “What can I say? You looked like you could murder someone this morning.” The albino’s mouth pulled down into a frown. _Right._ He had spotted Daggur while they were in the field earlier and it had put him in a sour mood remembering what Hiccup looked like yesterday. Jack had tried to remain calm and stop himself from storming to the bastard and beat the living shit out of him. It was also the main reason he had called Hiccup earlier so he could check on him. Surprisingly, Hiccup also had that effect on him that made him forget about his bad mood.

“See, you’re making that face again.” The brunette pointed out flicking a finger at Jack’s forehead before passing by him.  “Good thing your special someone brightened up your mood.”

Jack smiled following suit. _He sure did._ Hiccup was right when he said he wasn’t a heavy planner. It was an impromptu idea when Jack decided to ask the auburn out. He had noticed how Hiccup would have that distant look in his eyes as he was buried in his thoughts. Jack wanted to take his mind away from those things and it was true that they hadn’t hung out in places except in each other’s room and _the Loo_. It was like hitting two birds with one stone. He got to take Hiccup out and Hiccup could take his mind out of things. Jack also wanted to see Hiccup loosen up, smile and laugh more. He wanted him to lower his guard for just a while and let his inner self out. He wanted to see the real Hiccup. So maybe that was hitting three birds with one stone.

Despite that he had torn down some of those defensive walls, Jack knew there was still more of that in Hiccup. He was only scratching the surface. It was probably because of their “relationship” why Hiccup was still so guarded with him. He couldn’t complain about that. I mean, you can’t just go from hey-I-find-you-cute-so-let’s-be-fuck-buddies to I’m-in-love-with-you-I-want-to-get-to-know-you-much-deeper-so-let’s-forget-about-the-fuck-buddies-thing-and-go-out-on-a-date kind of thing all of a sudden. Isn’t that why he found himself subconsciously not wanting to have sex with Hiccup for a while? It was because he was slowly beginning to like him until he found himself in too deep and _poof_ he fell hard for the boy?  He wasn’t complaining or anything. In fact, he found falling in love with Hiccup was one of the greatest things he had ever done in his slightly messed up life. But he also understood that this wouldn’t be easy.

For starters, he didn’t know if Hiccup felt the same way he did. He was determined though to make the short auburn fall for him if need be. But if that wouldn’t work… well, he really can’t force him to love him right? He’d still try though. It was way better to admit his feelings to Hiccup than keep it hidden and die in agony inside. That was not his thing. Secondly, he would have to come out. Okay, maybe that wasn’t much of a problem. Jack knew North didn’t care about his preference as long as he was happy. The news might shock him, but that wouldn’t make him want to un-adopt him and throw him out of the house. It was one thing he loved about his dad, he was accepting and understanding. Jack couldn’t care less if people found out. Besides, it wasn’t like he was attracted to _all_ the guys. In fact, in the teenager’s dating history, he had never dated guys nor found them attractive enough to develop feelings for them. He would admire them for their skill and personality, but _not_ in _that_ kind of way. Hiccup was the first. Hiccup was the only exception. So maybe the second wasn’t really a problem. The other problem Jack could think of is how people would treat Hiccup. Jack had seen how most of the students ignored the auburn. If they did give him attention it wasn’t the friendly kind. Hiccup seemed indifferent of how he was being treated, but that didn’t mean he was okay with it.

Jack knew, that if ever he and Hiccup did start to exclusively date and let the public know, the auburn would be the one receiving the worst end of things. The albino understood it was inevitable. It was how people worked, like some kind of twisted programmed function humans had. He didn’t want for Hiccup to get hurt because of him. He wanted to protect him with all his might. If it so happens that Hiccup felt the same way he did, Jack wouldn’t force him to make their relationship public. If Hiccup wanted to keep it a secret, he was more than glad to fulfill his wishes. As long as he could be with the auburn and openly show Hiccup his love without anything holding him back then he was all right with keeping their relationship secret.

Hopefully, this date (he couldn’t help but smile at this) would make things take those turn of events instead of the darker and tragic path.

The albino didn’t realize that his best friend was snapping his fingers in front of him until he felt a shock go through his body. Jack let out a sharp gasp and turned to the offender who was smiling apologetically at him.

“What the hell Tadashi! Did you fucking bring a defibrillator with you? ” Jack complained to his friend rubbing his hand where the shock had originated and spread through him. Jim and Will were laughing their asses off not giving a care that they were catching the attention of the majority within the cafeteria. He would have smacked their heads if his body wasn’t still tingling with the sensation of being electrocuted.

“It is not a defibrillator but I guess you could say it shares the same mechanism. Besides this is one of your stuff that you bought in a joke shop, I just modified it a bit.” Tadashi answered smiling, satisfied that one of his experiments worked nicely.

“I never expected you would take my suggestion literally,” their blonde companion laughed breathlessly.

“Dude…you should have… seen your face when Tadashi… shocked you,” Jim added with difficulty before dissolving into another fit of laughs. He placed a hand on Will’s shoulder for support while the latter tapped the table as if surrendering in a wrestling match.

Jack glared at his two friends and just shook his head when he caught Tadashi cough to keep his composure and prevent himself from joining the pair. “Would you guys just stop it already?” Jim and Will did as he asked and composed themselves sitting up straight. But when they glanced at each other they smiled and started to laugh again. “Guys! Come on!” Jack huffed irritated.

“All right, all right. Sorry, man. Sheesh, you can’t blame us when you did―” Jim imitated how he looked when Tadashi had shocked him and Will laughed again with Tadashi now joining in―”this. See? Don’t tell me it wasn’t funny because I could see that smile on you, Overland.” Okay, he had to admit he did look ridiculous. Jim had surely exaggerated the look but that still didn’t make it less laughable.

“Fine! You guys win this time,” Jack surrendered throwing his hands up.

“But really Jackson, what had you all preoccupied?” Tadashi questioned eyeing him. “You were zoning out on us and Jim told us you had difficulty focusing on class. Did something happen?”

_Oh something happened all right._ A smile spread over Jack’s lips at the thought. He most definitely had a hard time focusing on his class because a certain freckled teen was all he could think about the past hours and counting.

“O-kay,” Will drawled worriedly. “Why is Jack making that smiling goofy face? He looks like he’s―”

“In love?” Jim supplied.

“I was going to say ‘gone mental’ but maybe that’s more accurate.” Will shrugged and looked at Jack more closely. “Oh wait, I’m sensing something more.” The blonde squinted his eyes at him and repeatedly nodded. A meaningful smile spread and he wiggled his eyebrows at the albino. “It seems young Jackson has a date.”

“W-What? Me? A date?” the albino tried to say in disbelief but he knew his friends weren’t buying it. They knew him all too well to fall for that.

“It looks like he finally scored too,” the brunette remarked with a devious smirk.

“Oh, now that’s great news!” Tadashi grinned appreciatively to him. “So, are you going to introduce him to us?”

Jack blinked. Did Tadashi just say _him_? He looked at his two other friends and saw that they looked unfazed at the pronoun that their raven haired friend had used. “You guys know?” Jack knew that was a stupid question. Of course they knew! They were his closest friends! Even if he didn’t say anything, they had their own way of knowing what was up with him. They had probably known weeks ago that Jack had been preoccupied with a “who” and not a “what”. But what, the albino didn’t understand was how they found out it was a “he”. He had made sure that no one would see him and Hiccup together. He had even avoided associating himself with Hiccup at school which was very hard to do, mind you. But his friends still found out.

“Please, Jack. You may have been subtle with your ‘gay-zing’ and other people wouldn’t have noticed it. But dude, we’re your friends,” Jim explained to him shaking his head. “We can pick up even your slightest mood change.”

“And Jackson, you weren’t so subtle on the gazing, for us anyway. We could see you snapping to attention whenever he comes into your line of vision,” Tadashi added wincing a bit.

“You’re pretty obvious, man.” Will pointed out.

“Really?” and the chorus agreement his friends made had him burying his face on the table. “How long have you guys known?”

“A couple of weeks give or take.” Jim gestured in a so-so manner. “Tadashi was the first to notice of course and me and Will found out by the same time.”

“I mean it’s okay if you don’t want to introduce him yet,” the blonde assured him. “But just don’t try to hide things from us anymore. Dude, we’re your friends, you can trust us. And besides, it’s not like you liking guys would change a thing about you. You’re still Jackson Overland.”

“Thanks guys.” Jack lifted his face from the table and smiled at his friends who gave him pats on the shoulder and ruffling his hair. He swatted them away but he was still smiling and sat up straight. He could never ask for better friends than them. “It was just a little complicated. I mean, I wasn’t sure about myself or what the hell I was doing. I didn’t want to tell you guys until I was sure,” he explained to them.

“So, does that mean you’re sure now? About yourself and everything?” the raven inquired. Jack nodded and let out a sigh.

“I’m sure about what I feel for him and what I want. But, I’m not sure he wants the same thing… for us.”

“I guess you didn’t start out in the usual way,” Jim pointed and Jack let out a sigh before nodding in response.

“We both knew the thing we shared wasn’t going to be permanent and I intended it to be that way. But the longer I stay with him, the more I didn’t want to go away. He’s an amazing person and I wanted to get to know him more. I didn’t understand what I was feeling for him until yesterday. I’m okay if he doesn’t want to be with me in that kind of way. I’m okay with just being friends. I just… I just want to be there for him, you know? Am I making sense here?” Jack looked at his friends who were exchanging looks and nodding.

“He’s got it bad,” Will proclaimed with a smile.

“He’s got it real bad,” Jim agreed.

“Jackson, we’re happy for you. We’re glad that you finally found someone whom you actually love.” Tadashi patted him on the shoulder, smiling pleased.

“Just remember, we’re here for you. If you need help, we’ve got your back man.” Jim extended his fist.

“All for one,” Will said putting out his fist too.

“One for all,” Tadashi seconded and Jack smiled shaking his head. The four of them joined their fists and cheered. They laughed at their childishness, but who cares? Jack was happy and his friends were happy for him.

“So we already know you’re taking him on a date but where?” Will suddenly turned all business-like.

Jack scratched his cheek lightly with his finger. Like he said earlier, it was an impromptu idea. So he actually had no idea where he would bring Hiccup on a date.

“You’re kidding me,” Jim scoffed rolling his eyes. “You asked him out on a date with no place in mind?”

“Isn’t that why I have you guys?” He grinned sheepishly at them.

“Unbelievable,” Tadashi shaking his head with a chuckle.

“You, Jackson Overland, are hopeless,” Jim stated matter-of-factly.

“He should be really thankful he’s friends with us.” Will clapped his hands and rubbed them together with devious smirk. “Okay! So let’s formulate a plan for Operation: Freckles.”

 

* * *

 

Fifteen minutes before the bell rings—signaling the end of lunch break—Jack made his way towards the library. He knew this was where Hiccup spent his lunch period rather than the rambunctious room they call a cafeteria. The albino nodded politely towards the librarian who as usual gave him a distrustful look. She knew he was here for Hiccup. She had witnessed him stalk the boy―hiding behind books and peeking in between spaces of the shelves―ever since that day they met in the boy’s bathroom. The librarian was a bit overprotective of the auburn, probably because he was one of the few students who valued the library and respected it like it should have been. Hiccup was also a constant presence in the place and he assumed he was in friendly terms with the librarian even if he hasn’t seen them interact.

_He is such a nerd,_ he mused with a smile.

Jack made his way towards the mythology section and just like he had guessed, Hiccup was there. His eyes were trained on the opened book he was browsing. Jack watched as the expressions danced in the boy’s face as he read the words written in the pages. He was pretty sure it was about dragons again. Hiccup loved dragons and though some may see it as childish, Jack didn’t think so. It was something he also loved about Hiccup―to keep the side of yourself that said you were still a kid deep in your heart.

He smiled as he sneakily made his way towards the boy. Hiccup was too engrossed in reading the book that he didn’t even notice that Jack was right behind him. Slowly, the white-haired teen slipped his arms around the auburn’s thin waist careful with his bruises and he felt Hiccup stiffen at his touch. He brought his lips to the younger teen’s ear and whispered, “Hey freckles.” He grinned as he witnessed Hiccup shiver. He then licked the shell of the boy’s ear and reveled at the more intense shivers that racked Hiccup’s spine.

“Jack~” the boy whisper-whined and the albino chuckled.  He loosened his grip on Hiccup’s waist and the teen did not waste a minute to turn and glare at the jock. “You know I hate it when you do that.”

Jack cocked a brow. “Really? Because if I recall,” he moved closer pinning the shorter teen against the shelves. “You enjoyed this very much.” Jack leaned closer and captured Hiccup’s lips. The albino gently ran his hands on the shorter teen’s side. When his hands ghosted over the fabric where his nipples were, the auburn gasped and Jack took it as a chance to slip his tongue inside the boy’s mouth.

Hiccup moaned as Jack ran his tongue on the roof of his mouth. He tasted every bit of the auburn’s mouth and he knew if he didn’t stop himself, kissing wasn’t the only thing that they would do. Before Jack could take it any further, he broke their kiss with a last swipe on the auburn’s lip. Hiccup’s jade eyes were glazed and Jack had to keep his self-control from taking the teen then and there. He didn’t want to Hiccup to see the hungry-look he must’ve had on his face so he leaned and whispered in the auburn’s ear, “Told you, you enjoyed it.”

This effectively snapped Hiccup out of his daze and hit Jack on the shoulder. The albino rested his head on the crook of the boy’s neck to muffle his laugh and hugged him. He also tried to calm the rapid beating of his heart. Jack smiled as he heard the resonating beat of Hiccup’s heart. The way they beat at the same time was such a wonderful sound to his ears. It felt like they beat for each other. The thought made his stomach flutter with butterflies and he couldn’t stop smiling.

“I love you,” he whispered against the boy’s shoulder.

“Did you say something Jack?” Hiccup asked. Jack shook his head and drew back to look at those beautiful jade eyes. His friend were right, he really had it bad. “What are you smiling at?” the auburn looked at him confused but the corner of his lips were raised a bit.

Jack shook his head again, the smile not disappearing from his lips. “Nothing, I’m just happy.” He slipped a paper in Hiccup’s hand saying, “Meet me there after school.” He dipped his head to give the teen a kiss on the cheek. The two stared at each other for a moment and Jack took step back, turned on his heel and dashed out of the library.

He was glad that Hiccup didn’t hear what he had said. It was still too early for him to say that to the auburn. As much as he wanted to, for now he has to settle with just showing Hiccup what he felt for him. If Hiccup asks him why he’s doing this, that’s when he’ll tell him. Whatever result the confession would hold, Jack would willingly accept it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah! So... how was it? I guess you guys are wondering who WIll is, but I think you might have a guess at who he is. And yes, he is not my original character! I just borrowed the guy from dad-da-da~!! Uncle Rick!!
> 
> I'm sorry, I just love the guy okay? So forgive me for inserting him here. Anyhoo~ let me hear what you think of this chapter fellas... hehe ^w^


	6. Operation Freckles I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an unexpected someone tags along and Jack is executing the preliminary steps of Operation Freckles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry. This came in late. My desktop broke down and I just got it fixed a few days ago. I think I should re-think about that one chapter a week and just put it as indefinite. I have a feeling my desktop won't agree with me, so I don't want to disappoint your expectations when you see I haven't updated on the said day.
> 
> I think this is somewhat like a filler chapter. So sorry if there aren't much any happenings. Do forgive me for the errors, this is unbeta'd.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Jack glanced at the clock for the umpteenth time that hour. Class couldn’t go any faster, his teacher had been droning on about something he couldn’t quite remember anymore. He knew he was in trouble if they happened to have a quiz tomorrow. Half of the lecture had gone over his head already and that was saying something. Usually it was just a quarter of what the teacher was blabbering about that he couldn’t absorb. His friends had teased him about his attention span rivaling that of a sparrow. It was partly true. Jack could concentrate in long spans of time but once something catches his eye or anything that suddenly breaks his concentration, earning it back was a battle.

Just like now. He had just gotten a glimpse of a familiar mop of auburn hair in the hallway and he could no longer think of anything else but what awaits him after class.

He could just ask Tadashi to lend him his notes. They had the same subject just different schedules. And always being the good friend, the raven would surely let him borrow his notes along with another kind of lecturing from the Asian too. He was a big brother by nature, much like Jack.

A wistful expression made its way to the albino’s face. He had never said this to any of his friends, but in all honesty, he was jealous of Tadashi. It wasn’t because he was smart or understanding or any of all his good qualities. He was jealous of Tadashi because he could be with his little brother, Hiro. Every time his friend talked fondly of Hiro and his antics, he couldn’t help thinking about his little sister.

What would it feel like if she was still here? Would Jack talk excitedly about her just like Tadashi? Would he somehow be the way he is now if she was with still with him?

Jack understood that Emma had been the trigger of why he became who he is now. He surrounded himself with people so he wouldn’t constantly think of her and what he lost. He continued to prank people despite it being childish and making them happy because it reminded him of the days he played with her and the sound of her laughter that rang in the air. He liked kids and taking care of them not just because he does, but some deep little part of him said it was because he wanted to continue being a big brother. He missed her deeply, but he’d gotten better. He wasn’t such a wreck unlike before. He blamed himself for her death, not just her but their parents too. He understood it wasn’t actually his fault, but he wished he could have done something to save them.

If Emma were here, she’d tell him stop beating himself over it. She would tell him to stop being sad and continue on. North had told him it was the best thing he could do. They would want him to live his life. It would break their heart if they were the cause of Jack’s pain. So that was what he did. He lived his life to honor his family who had lost theirs.

But he just couldn’t stop wondering what it would be like if Emma was still alive. What would she say about his predicament? He could see her scolding him to man up and be honest with himself. Jack let out a silent chuckle. She would definitely do that. He could imagine her formulating plans with the guys to help her hopeless big brother.

He was abruptly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of the bell piercing the air. Without a moment’s hesitation, Jack packed his things and shot out of his seat not even caring about his teacher’s last words of reminder.

Being excited was an understatement. What he was feeling was beyond that. His insides were invaded by a familiar pack of alien butterflies and they were fluttering wildly within his stomach tearing each other apart. His hands which were usually dry and cold were sweating profusely and their temperature dropped to a degree close enough to Antarctica. His emotions were a mix of anticipation, anxiousness and downright ooey-gooey mushiness at the prospect of his plans.

It felt like he was going on his first ever date. Well... maybe that isn't so far from the truth. This _is_ his first ever date with a certain adorkable freckled individual. So it was understandable, especially if said individual was a sarcastic dubious little cutie.

He wanted everything to be perfect. And since he was Jackson Overland… that was going to be a problem. First dates always seem to end up a mess in his experience. He was still baffled how it always happened. But it was in those disaster first dates that he knew if the person was worth it or not. That despite the date not being what or how they both wanted it to be, it wouldn’t affect how they felt towards him. It was some kind of test that he hadn’t planned on initiating. It just sort of happened.

_This_ was not the case though. He knew with the auburn's intuitiveness, he would surely have expected something would go awry. But Jack also knew the teen wouldn't mind. Among all the times they had hung out together, Jack always managed to do something either completely stupid or random. The teen had concluded that it was one of Jack's idiosyncrasies. And Jack was definite that the auburn would find him being his usual idiotic random self in a date inevitable and...genuine.

It didn't stop Jack from wanting to impress the teen though. He wanted to show Hiccup that he also had another side other than his usual playful one. He also wanted Hiccup to enjoy their time together. He wanted him to have fun. He was determined to bring down those walls that prevented the auburn from showing his true self―the one hidden behind an awful amount of sass and sarcasm. And if he won't be able to do that―his title Jack Frost Guardian of Fun was nothing but that. A name.

Hopefully, the place Will suggested, along with his tricks, would do just the thing. And he had to hurry because he was running late.

 

* * *

 

When Jack arrived at their rendezvous point, he did not in his entire mind, expect what he saw.

Hiccup was sitting on a rock with a mirror in hand and a monstrous cat trying to catch the light that darted from here to there. There was a cat with him. And it wasn't just any cat. It was his pet cat. It was TOOTHLESS.

"What in Moon's name is your perverted cat doing here?" Jack wasn't mad. He was just really surprised and couldn't grasp the mere fact that Hiccup's best friend was actually there running around chasing a dot of light.

Hiccup's melodious laugh seized and he whipped his head towards Jack. The boy raised his brow at the albino. “I told you, Toothless is not a pervert. He just happens to be around when you get all naughty. He's overprotective that way." The teen explained with a tiny smirk.

He was suddenly reminded of the times when he tries to do something that would get Hiccup all hot and bothered with the feline swooping down out of nowhere to foil his plans. It was one reason why they mostly did the naughty in Jack’s room. Toothless was always around with a watchful eye in the auburn’s house. Hiccup had tried locking him out of his room one time, but to their surprise the large cat would be glaring daggers at Jack from the window. They tried drawing the curtains but Toothless’ threatening growls and incessant scratching on the window, would cause them to cease their steamy activity laughing. He was partly the cause why Jack hasn’t been too touchy around Hiccup in his room, but hey he enjoyed cuddling the auburn so no complaining there. He did still feel those acid green eyes on him in his own home both when and not Hiccup was there, but the cat wouldn’t purposely seek him out now right?

He glanced at Toothless who was eyeing him dangerously. Maybe he should re-think that notion.

He turned his attention back to Hiccup. He still had that smirk, probably thinking of his cat’s heroic interventions. "So you're telling me that he just happens to know I'm taking you out and just magically―” he waved his hands theatrically for effect “―appeared because he doesn’t trust me?"

“He has great intuition,” Hiccup shrugged with a smile etched on his pretty lips. “He just showed up in my last class. He has a habit of checking up on me…”

Jack noticed how the boy had twiddled with his thumbs. He understood the unspoken words of the auburn. Toothless checked up on him whenever that bastard Daggur paid him a _visit_. Jack was suddenly thankful of the feline’s overprotectiveness. He had a feeling that Toothless had defended Hiccup countless times from the bully. And there was no question that Toothless was capable of such a thing. With his imposing aura and size, adding those sharp claws, teeth and threatening acid green eyes―Toothless seemed bred for battle.

“But I must admit, this is the first time he did it again in weeks. I would usually see him by the window and then he would leave when he sees I’m okay. Today though, he followed me here and wouldn’t leave when I tell him to.”

The sheepish look Hiccup gave him confirmed something in Jack’s thoughts. “He’s coming with us isn’t he?” The feline jumped on the boy’s lap, positioned himself protectively and looked at Jack with challenging eyes, as if daring the albino to just try and get rid of him. Those eyes were promising him a whole new kind of pain.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then.” Jack knew better than to mess with Toothless. He swore that Maine Coon was like a freaking dragon in its past life.

Hiccup chuckled and scratched the night black cat under the chin making Toothless cringe in delight. He lifted his cat in his arms and pushed himself up from the rock he was sitting on. “Sorry, but Toothless wants to play chaperone to keep you in line,” the teen smiled cheekily at him. “Don’t you bud?” Toothless meowed proudly in response.

Jack shook his head in disbelief but couldn’t help but laugh. This would certainly be an unforgettable first date.

“So where are we going that we had to meet up in this secluded meadow in the woods miles away from school?” Hiccup asked him cocking a brow as he approached the albino.

“Don’t I even get a kiss?” Jack pouted.

“You made me wait here for twenty minutes,” Jack winced at that. Hiccup’s classes ended earlier than his. “Shouldn’t I be the one demanding that?” the auburn retorted. He looked at Hiccup and his mouth formed an “O” nodding and a grin spread through his lips. Hiccup looked cautiously at Jack and took a step back. He immediately sensed the devious aura coming from Jack. He was too late though.

Jack grabbed him by his belt loop and pulled him closer. He smiled softly at the shorter teen and whispered, “Sorry babe,” and he dipped his head to kiss the boy. Hiccup didn’t respond at first, but it didn’t take long for him to do so. The auburn teen sighed giving in and kissed the pale teen. He opened his mouth to let Jack do what he wanted and reciprocated each movement matching the albino’s ardor. Jack sighed contented. He could’ve gone and forgot that they had somewhere to go. The meadow was quiet and peaceful. Making out on the cool ticklish lush grass didn’t seem too bad. And by the looks of it, Hiccup wouldn’t mind about it too.  He wanted to push Hiccup down on his back to lie on the ground, to roll on the grass fighting who would be on top and just hold each other close.

A harsh bite to the hand stopped all those thoughts and Jack was pulled back to reality hissing in pain. He shot the culprit a withering look, but the little monster hissed at him. “Your cat really doesn’t like me.”

“No kidding, Sherlock,” Hiccup said rolling his eyes but the way they twinkled with amusement was telling him the boy was fighting back a laugh.

“He seems to be keeping count of the seconds too.” Jack rubbed his bitten hand. “I can’t even give you a proper kiss when he’s around. I could only peck you on the cheeks. The lips would either get me a scratch or a bite.” He huffed irritated and took Hiccup’s hand in his as he led them out of the place to where his car was parked. He heard Toothless growl warningly at him and he shot the feline a look. “I’m just holding his hand. Sheesh, Toothless.”

This time Hiccup couldn’t bite back his laugh. Jack raised an unimpressed brow at him, annoyed that he was enjoying this. Deep inside though, he was glad that Hiccup was laughing openly rather than the usual snort or cough.

“Leave him be. He just wants to make sure I’m safe.” Jack opened his car door for him and before Hiccup could duck inside, he gave the teen a peck on the cheek. Jack blinked surprised and looked at Hiccup who pulled the door shut and acted as if he didn’t do what he just did.

The albino shook his head and went to the other side. _Yup, this date is going to be unforgettable._

Now, he just hopes that dragon of a cat wouldn’t prove to be a problem.

 

* * *

 

"So where are you taking me?" Hiccup asked Jack. He had been meaning to ask it the moment he slid inside the elder's car, but the albino had kept a tight lid about the destination for their date. Gods it still made his heart jump whenever he thought about it as a date. It started out as an invitation to skip school and hangout but because of a simple slip of the tongue, it had turned into a date and Hiccup could not stop himself from thinking of it as that way.

He knew Jack was thinking the same way too. It was obvious enough with how the albino seemed to be bouncing with energy. He couldn’t stop feeling nervous though. Jack was his first date. He was the first ever person to ask him out and not knowing where he was taking him was kind of driving him crazy. He had no idea what to do.

"Not telling~" Jack said in a sing-song way making him roll his eyes. He had expected that answer no less. "Oh but first, we have to get you disguised."

"Disguised?" The other nodded at him and took a turn, pulling into a mall’s parking lot. He raised a questioning brow at the white-haired jock but it was only answered by an excited smile. What was this boy planning to do with him?

Jack unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car to open Hiccup's door. "You are awfully being a gentleman today," Hiccup noted.

"Hey, I'm always a gentleman to you," Jack pouted offering his hand to the auburn. Hiccup took it and the albino grinned at him and leaned to Hiccup's ear whispering, "Especially in bed," as he pulled him out of the car. He could hear the smirk in Jack's voice and Hiccup couldn't help but blush at the boy's words.

He wasn't lying about that. Jack was definitely a gentleman whenever they had sex. He was considerate about Hiccup, always making sure he felt great and asked if he was hurting him or not. He didn’t just think about his own needs, but also Hiccup’s. He didn’t do anything unless the auburn had given him his permission, tending to the auburn’s comfort. But that didn't stop him from hitting the older teen on the shoulder. "I can't believe you're actually mentioning that," he glared, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Jack smiled cheekily at him and pinched his nose to which the auburn groaned flailing his arms. Jack’s laugh was replaced with a cry of pain and the teen whipped his head to something on his leg. Hiccup followed his gaze and saw a familiar black cat whose mouth was clamped on the albino’s leg.

"Toothless! How many times have I told you about attacking Jack?" The auburn pried the feline out of the boy's pant leg and reprimanded his best friend as he fought back the urge to laugh.

"I almost forgot he's with us," Jack said with furrowed brows.

"He can maintain a low presence when he wants to. Useful for sneaking salmons out of the kitchen," he shot the cat a glare but he was promptly ignored.

"You know we can't bring him inside right?"

Hiccup nodded. "Guess he'll just stay in your car then."

"He won't mess my car would he?" the teen asked worriedly.

They both looked at Toothless who put up a look of innocence but they sensed the mischievous aura emitting from the feline. It was obvious that he was planning something. Revenge for being left behind in the car no doubt.

"I can't promise that," he simply said.

Jack groaned. "Ugh, whatever. I'll just have to get it fixed when the need arises."

Hiccup smiled apologetically at him. He placed Toothless back inside the car and kneeled in front of him. He looked at his cat in the eyes and took on a serious air. "Now bud, I want you to behave. If you do anything bad, I'm going to feed you eels for the next few days." Toothless' acid eyes were glaring at him. He absolutely loathed eels. "But," his best friend's ears perked at this and his eyes softened, "if you behave, you'll be eating your favorite."

Toothless eyes shone at him expectantly as he licked his lips and Hiccup knew he had won his cat over. Nothing beats a bargain of salmon for the feline. Toothless would do anything to get a bite of it. With a last scratch to the ear, he stood up and closed the car's door.

"Don't worry, I think I convinced him to behave." He turned to Jack who was still looking worriedly at his precious car. Hiccup couldn’t blame him. It was an expensive looking car and he was sure it must have cost a fortune.

"I'll trust you on that." Jack locked his car and offered his hand to him. He looked at it warily. Jack could sense his apprehension in him and the albino took on a pleading look. "Just this once. Come on, please?"

Was Jack sure about wanting to hold his hand in public? Sure, they may be outside of their town, but that didn't mean they could go out in the open. Hiccup was still worried about the possibility of someone who knew them seeing them. He didn’t want to damage Jack’s reputation and he didn’t want to be in trouble. He still had no idea how his dad would react to this. And to be honest, he was scared to know. But the look Jack was giving him was somehow easing away his worries. There was something in his cobalt eyes that told him he won’t be alone in this. That Jack was going to be there.  

With a sigh, Hiccup reluctantly took Jack's hand. "Just this once," he agreed. The albino flashed his famous smile and the auburn rolled his eyes shaking his head fondly.

"You really can't deny my charms, huh freckles?" he declared wiggling his brows playfully.

_If only you knew_ , Hiccup thought. He was in love with Jack so denying his requests was a hard task. Besides, holding hands as they walk through the mall looking for disguises (he couldn't help but snort at the ridiculousness) out in broad daylight in front of people seemed like a nice thing. He had never done this with anyone before and the idea of Jack being the first warmed his heart. He had indeed taken a lot of firsts from him. But honestly speaking, Hiccup didn't mind. It was better if it was Jack. He couldn't imagine anyone else doing so.

Hiccup tried to ignore the curious glances they were receiving. His steps receded and he was walking slightly behind Jack, hiding himself in his back. He felt Jack squeeze his hand and he looked up to see the teen smiling encouragingly at him. He timidly smiled back and the jock and the boy entwined their fingers, gripping his hand in a more possessive and reassuring manner. Hiccup relished at the touch and focused on the feeling of their hands locked together than the eyes on them.

He took note how Jack’s hand was colder than it usually was and he understood that he was just as nervous as he was. The knowledge that it was mutual eased Hiccup. Jack needed him to calm down as much as he did. It felt great to know that they were there for each other. He still doesn’t understand why Jack had asked him out. Hiccup wasn’t stupid not to know that there was another reason that Jack wasn’t telling him. The albino must have a goal or something. In the short time they had known each other, Hiccup thoughts about Jack were proven right.

Jack was never the type of person that did things in a whim. Okay maybe it starts out that way, but the albino would realize sooner or later that it wasn’t just a whim. There was an underlying reason for every action the teen did. He wanted to know, but he understood that Jack would tell him on his own. For now, he’s content with things and didn’t want to think of his worries. He wanted to take his mind out of everything else and just focus on what’s happening this moment. It might as well be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. He would love to savor it as much as possible.

 

* * *

 

Hiccup watched Jack as he weaved around the shop moving from rack to rack, sifting through clothes and occasionally glancing in his direction as his eyes moved to the piece of clothing from the younger teen and back and forth in a contemplative manner. It didn’t take him long though to approach Hiccup with a handful of clothes and took the boy’s hand pulling him to the direction of the changing room.

“Here, change into these,” Jack handed him a few articles and pushed him gently inside the room. He pulled the curtains back and left the auburn standing looking a little disoriented. He looked at the clothes Jack had given him and he heard the elder say, “Hic, stop staring. The clothes aren’t going to wear themselves, you have to do that.” He frowned and he heard the other’s muffled chuckle. How Jack knew he was doing just that was beyond him.

Maybe they knew each other way more than they realized.

Knowing that Jack was not going to let him out until he changes into the clothes, Hiccup did as the white-haired teen said. His bruises still hurt though the pain has lessened compared to the day before. Careful with his movements, he removed his clothes with difficulty and put on the ones that Jack had chosen. The teen looked at himself in the full-length mirror and he had to admit, the clothes Jack picked out despite being simple looked good on him and managed to make him seem decent. It was also amazing how the albino had chosen the right sizes unlike his father that always bought him clothes a size larger or so and hung on him awkwardly. But he didn’t complain because he liked loose fitting clothes.

The shirt hugged his torso snugly bringing out curves he had no idea were there but was also a comfortable fit. The loose pants he was wearing a minute ago was now replaced with ones that covered about half of his calves. He had joked about how effeminate his frame was and waved it off, but looking at his reflection now… he never knew it was actually true.

“Are you done changing Hiccup?” Jack called to him.

“Jack…”

His voice must have sounded distressed because soon the albino’ voice worriedly answered, “Yes?”

“You said we were looking for disguises,” he said.

“Oh,” He could hear the relief in the other teen’s voice and he added. “Uh-huh, why? Don’t you like the disguise I picked out?” A mental image of Jack tilting his head confused entered his mind and Hiccup groaned.

“What part of a disguise does this count as being one?”

“What? I swear it looked perfect on you,” Jack muttered more to himself and pulled the curtain open. His eyes scanned Hiccup’s form and he nodded thoughtfully, mumbling comments about the fit, the color and how he was good at choosing clothes. “It’s perfect as I thought. So what’s the problem?” the jock said and met Hiccup’s exasperated look.

“Jackson Overland, what part of disguise do you not understand?” He questioned pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Henry Haddock,” Jack replied placing his hands on the shorter teen’s shoulders making the latter look up at him. “Would you please trust me on this? I know what I’m doing.” He planted a light kiss on Hiccup’s lips. “Now, let’s get that paid up.” The albino slipped inside the changing room and grabbed the clothes that Hiccup was wearing earlier. He grabbed Hiccup’s hand and pulled the boy to the cashier.

Hiccup observed how Jack smiled and interacted with the female who was smiling widely at him and leaning a little too close. The auburn rolled his eyes as he caught a view of the girl’s cleavage and looked away. Jack didn’t seem to be paying attention and barely glanced at the obvious display, choosing to cut the tags and handing them to the girl so she could punch them on the cashier. He wasn’t even flirting back and kept up a friendly act. Hiccup could also tell that the teen was getting impatient with the rhythmic tapping he was doing on the counter. The girl was keeping them too long just so she could talk to Jack. Well, he couldn’t blame her. Jack was an attractive piece of male specimen, but she should really get a hint that the guy wasn’t interested.

He wanted to laugh as Jack let out an obvious sigh of relief after the last article of clothing was placed inside the bag and his card was swiped, paying the bill. Jack took his hand and led him out of the store. Hiccup couldn’t help but smirk when he saw the surprised expression on the girl’s face. Her co-worker who must have known from the start was laughing so much Hiccup couldn’t help but smile wider.

 “What are you looking at?” Jack asked him glancing back at the direction of the store.

“Nothing important, just something I amusing,” he shook his head and faced Jack. “This still isn’t a disguise though.”

This time it was Jack who rolled his eyes. “I’m not even finished with you yet.”

….

“You’re unbelievable,” was the only thing Hiccup was able to say as they stood inside an empty bathroom. He looked at the tube Jack was holding and he really couldn’t believe that the teen had that with him. “You had it all this time?” he asked him incredulously.

“Please, I wasn’t planning on keeping it. Besides, it was just lying around in your medicine cabinet and I’ve never seen you use it,” the white-haired teen reasoned.

“That’s because it’s too high maintenance and it makes my eyes itch,” he argued back.

“You’re disguise wouldn’t be complete without this! You have to wear them!”

“You’re impossible,” Hiccup sighed and took the tube containing his contacts from Jack’s hand.

“Why can’t you stop complaining about your disguise? It’s perfect on you. You look less like a nerd now,” the taller male pointed out with a grin.

He frowned making the jock laugh and pinch his cheeks. Hiccup swatted the hand away and faced the mirror. He cleaned his hands and removed his glasses. Jack tapped his shoulder and he squinted at the boy, he was holding something to him and Hiccup realized that it was a small bottle of solution for cleaning his contacts. He raised a brow at the male who grinned at him, no doubt taking pride for being prepared. He shook his head but smiled nonetheless and accepted the offered bottle.

It’s been a long time since he last wore his contacts but he still did it with his ease. Sometimes he wondered why he bought contacts when he wasn’t even using them. Oh right, there was a point before he met Jack that he wanted stop wearing glasses to at least look less of a target but realizing how it was easier to take and slip on his glasses than contacts and stopped wearing them.

“Wow, you should really wear contacts more. Your eyes look more beautiful,” he heard Jack say beside him as he stared at Hiccup’s reflection.

The auburn coughed to cover the faint blush spread on his cheeks, “T-thanks.”

“Hmm, but your bangs are still trying to hide them. Come here.” Jack reached for Hiccup’s face and he started to fix the boy’s hair. He saw the bobby pins he was holding in his mouth and Hiccup really started to wonder where Jack gets this stuff. “There,” the male declared as he finished pinning down Hiccup’s long bangs. There were locks that hid his forehead but at least they didn’t cover his eyes anymore.

“For a guy, you sure know how to fix someone’s hair with bobby pins,” Hiccup noted. He glanced at Jack and saw how his smile fall and turned into a sad one.

“Yeah, I had my practice.”

There was an awkward silence that enveloped them and Hiccup had no idea how to break it or pass it. He had never seen Jack look like this and he was worried. It reminded him of the look his father got whenever he started to think about his mom. He never knew how to comfort his father since they were never big on showing affection. They barely talk and can’t even hold a conversation all the more comfort each other. But he had to try. He didn’t want to see Jack like this.

Slowly, he reached out to hold the albino’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Jack looked at him a bit surprised but a small smile formed on his lips and it was good enough for Hiccup.

“So… what’s your disguise?” At the question, Jack’s face lit up and dug something from the shopping bag. He took out a gray colored beanie and a pair of fake large black rimmed glasses. The male slipped them on, hiding his white locks inside the beanie besides the fringe.

“Ta-da!”

“That’s your disguise?” he deadpanned.

“What? It’s like we changed into each other. You looking like a hot piece of male adorableness and me looking like a straight A student.”

“You are certainly something,” Hiccup shook his head in disbelief.

“I know.” Jack agreed and added, “You’re not so bad yourself,” before leaning in to give him a quick kiss. “Now, that we’re disguised and barely recognizable, let’s get this date going.”

The auburn rolled his eyes once again and let Jack drag him to Odin-knows-where. Hopefully, their disguises would work and no one would recognize them. Despite that Jack assured him they were going in a place where no one knew them, there was something uneasy that settled in Hiccup’s stomach. It was probably his pessimistic side so he quickly ignored it. For once in his life, he wanted to just be happy. He was going to enjoy this date no matter what.


	7. Operation Freckles II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where friends take things into their hands and Jack is too busy about Hiccup to even notice. Toothless still hates Jack, nothing new there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as an apology, this chapter is very long. It was supposed to be longer than this but I figured I should just divide it and put it on the next chapter.
> 
> Again, sorry. Hope you enjoy reading!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. The characters belong to DreamWorks, Disney and Rick Riordan.

Hiccup could only stare at the place Jack had brought him to. They stood surrounded by an assortment of people—from kids, adults, teens, families, friends and couples. There were stalls erected in the wide field ranging from foods to games and souvenirs. Laughter rang in the air, the varying sounds of people having fun and music filtered through the auburn’s ear. The place was buzzing with activity, people walking and running from here to there, visiting every stall and seeing what it has to offer. His senses were overloading, but he didn’t care. The place was beautiful and Jack couldn’t have picked any better.

“Wow,” he said and Jack laughed beside him.

“I take that you like it,” the albino sounded pleased.

“I’ve never been to a fair before. I mean, I did help set up stalls back in our school, but I’ve never participated. Said I was a magnet for bad luck. Dad never brought me to one since he’s too busy with other stuff and I never liked going to places with a lot of people alone,” he told Jack not taking his eyes off from the sight in front of him. “This looks amazing.”

“It would be more amazing if we actually go see the stalls and not stand here.”

“Oh. Oh right! Sorry, I just… First timer and all, I couldn’t— sorry. I should really sto—” Jack cut him off with a kiss to the lips and Hiccup was so surprised that he immediately looked down and hid his face. “Sorry. I was rambling.” He puffed his cheeks and let out a nervous sigh. He was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Jack had just kissed him in public. His rapidly beating heart which sounded so loud in his ears to the point that it was deafening wasn’t any much help either. He was starting to wonder how he’s going to get through this date without breaking down.

He felt Jack place a finger under his chin and gently raised his head to look at him. “You’re going to be fine. _We’re_ going to be fine. So stop, worrying and let’s just have some fun. Okay, Hic?”

On any other day, he would have punched him on the shoulder for calling him that nickname, but today was different. He nodded and Jack smiled softly at him. Hiccup felt something pull his hand and he took his eyes away from the albino. The teen looked at the leash coiled on his hand. He followed the end of it and saw Toothless looking at him impatiently. Jack chuckled beside him and Hiccup just shook his head. He had a guess that his bossy cat had smelled something and he was going to look for it.

“I still can’t believe you bought him a leash,” Jack commented slipping their hands together.

”Well, I can’t leave him in your car. He hates being trapped.” Hiccup felt another harsh tug from his best friend and rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s go.” They held each other’s hand and together they followed the night black feline into the fair.

 

* * *

 

“You have got to be kidding me!” Jack complained for the third time and Hiccup could only laugh. He was holding onto Toothless tightly as he prevented the cat from participating in the game. Toothless led them into a game booth. The rules were simple: you just had to catch a gold fish. The catch? You were going to do it with a scooper whose material easily broke when it came in contact with water for too long.

“For someone who’s boasted of his _mad_ skills, you’re sure taking your time to catch a single gold fish.” Hiccup teased.

“Why don’t you try freckles? Let’s see if you can do better than me,” Jack challenged pointing his scooper whose paper was ripped leaving a gaping hole.

“Don’t mind if I do. Move over Snowflake,” he said. “I bet I could catch one faster than you.”

“Hah, you’re going to eat your words, Dragon Boy.”

“Let’s just see, Frostbutt. I’m going to put that huge ego of yours in its place.”

“I do not have a huge ego.”

“Denying it makes it even truer.”

Jack stuck his tongue out at him making him roll his eyes. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the other people, mainly kids covering their snickers at them. Jack faced the man who was in charge of the booth and asked for two more scoopers. The man just shook his head laughing and gave them their weapons. Hiccup placed Toothless down and told him to stay put and not dive into the little pool where the gold fish were swimming. Toothless looked grumpy but understood nonetheless and sat watching the two teens as they poised themselves in front of the pool.

“Take your time, Hickey. I assure you, the first try is always a failure,” Jack told him staring intently at the pool choosing his target carefully.

“Sorry, Snowcone, but I’ve got my own pointers just watching you fail. And do not ever call me by that name.” He punched the teen making him drop his scooper into the water.

Jack looked at him affronted. “You cheater! You sabotaged me!” Hiccup rolled his eyes ignoring the albino’s protests. “Hey mister, give me another one. You are so going to pay for this, Freckles.”

“Right,” the auburn drawled. “That is, unless you catch a gold fish before me.”  Hiccup ignored the albino’s jab and focused on his task. He had chosen his target from the beginning. Carefully, he positioned his scoop and pan, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated and without warning he struck. His net met the trajectory of the gold fish escape route and he quickly flipped the fish towards his awaiting pan. It jumped and almost missing, the auburn boy caught it.

He heard the kids who were watching them cheer for him. He glanced at Jack who was gaping at him and he smirked raising a brow at the albino.

“Beginner’s luck,” the older teen scoffed.

“You are such a sore loser.”

“Then do it again if it isn’t.”

Hiccup shook his head and complied with the jock’s wishes. He asked for another scooper and the man gave him one as he placed the fish the teen caught inside a plastic bag. He readied himself for another catch and after a few seconds, he caught another fish. Jack asked him to do it again and he did. They could have gone on and on, if they didn’t hear a group of kids complaining about not being able to catch one. The two teens glanced at each other and looked at the bag of gold fish that Hiccup had caught.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” Hiccup stated nudging a brow.

Jack grinned at him and Hiccup smiled shaking his head. The auburn had caught five gold fish, one for each kid. He glanced at Toothless who was quiet for a long time and saw that his best friend was hungrily eyeing the gold fish in the pool. He had to get his cat away from here before he jumps in and swipes a one of the poor things.

“I can’t believe you made me catch this much fish,” he said loud enough for the kids to hear. “You know I can’t keep them with Toothless around.”

“Hey, don’t look at me. I can’t keep those gold fish, I already have Baby Tooth,” the albino declared. They could both sense the kids’ eyes on them now. “So who can we give them to? We have to give them to someone who can take care of them.”

“Oh, but who? We should find someone fast. Toothless is starting to scheme about getting them,” he added in mock distress. Toothless looked at the two of them tilting his head to the side letting out a meow that sounded confused.

“We can take care of them!” one of the kids exclaimed and the two teens turned to face the group of children who were staring at them with expectant and excited eyes.

“Really? You sure you can take care of them?” Jack inquired looking a little unsure.

“Yes! We promise!” a girl in pig tails answered.

“We’ll feed them and get a fish bowl!” another added.

“And keep them away from evil kitties!”

If cats could look offended, Hiccup would say that Toothless looked just like that. He picked up his cat and scratched him on his favorite spot. The feline purred in delight and leaned on the auburn’s touch. It was the only apology he could offer at the moment for making him seem like a villain.

“Well, if you guys say that. I guess it’s a fair deal. What do you say Hiccup?” Jack turned to him pretending to get his confirmation.

“His name is Hiccup?” the girl with the pig tails asked confused.

“It’s such a weird name,” a boy giggled and was soon joined by the others.

“You’re one to talk. Your name’s ‘Nod’,” an auburn haired girl said to the brunette boy.

“Least, my name’s not just two letters. ‘Sides it’s just a nickname.” the kid named Nod retorted crossing his arms over his chest and stuck his tongue out to the auburn girl.

“M.K. is just a nickname too, you know,” the girl replied pouting. “My name’s too long.”

“Well, at least it doesn’t sound like Tiger just like the new kid’s name,” the girl in pig tails offered.

“Or ‘kiss me’,” one of them giggled. The teens exchanged looks and Jack just shrugged smiling, definitely finding the kids’ conversation amusing.

“You know, mine’s a nickname too,” Hiccup told the two kids. “And I agree with M.K. our names are too long but hers sounds better than Hiccup, if you ask me.”

“Aww, don’t say that. You may have a weird nickname but it’s cute just like you.” Jack comforted him giving him a peck on the cheek.

He widened his eyes at the albino and made a subtle gesture towards the kids in front of them. Jack rolled his eyes and Hiccup looked back at the kids who seemed unfazed by the action that the albino had shown. _Well, that’s something_ , he mused. _Who knew these kids are so open?_

“So are you going to let us have the gold fish?” the kid who made the comment about evil kitties asked with a pleading look in his eyes.

“It seems we can perfectly trust you guys, so sure,” Hiccup smiled. Jack asked the man running the booth to separate the fishes into different plastic bags and one by one they handed them to the kids who were beaming as they accepted their new pets.

The kids gave them an assortment of “thank you”s and ran off to probably show their parents. The brunette boy named Nod, stayed behind though and took a step closer to them. He looked up at Hiccup seriously and the auburn wondered what the kid wanted.

“You were really cool when you were catching the gold fish and thanks for giving them to us,” the child said and ran off. Hiccup blinked not expecting what the kid had said. He saw the boy stop a few steps away and look back, “I think your nickname’s cute too!” he yelled and went to follow his friends as they heard the little girl M.K. call for him.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Hiccup suddenly said still looking at the direction Nod had taken.

“I can’t believe your charms worked on a kid, a boy nonetheless.” Jack noted shaking his head.

“He said my nickname was cute. Not me, you idiot,” the auburn pouted at the jock.

Jack scoffed and gestured to where little boy had ran off. ”That is the same thing! And were you even looking? The ankle-biter was blushing! Madly, if I were to put.”

“Are we seriously having this conversation?”

“Of course we are! The kid just proved my point of you being a hot piece of male adorableness!”

“Goodbye Jackson.” Hiccup walked off leaving Jack behind. Toothless jumped out of his arms and walked beside him. His cat seemed delighted that they were leaving Jack and sped his pace.

“You just can’t take it that I’m right,” Jack spoke beside him. He turned his head to the albino to say something but his words died as the teen had stolen another kiss from him.

 “You’re doing that quite a lot today,” he noted frowning.

“Not like you hate it,” Jack smirked at him and Hiccup rolled his eyes with a smile.

  _I could definitely get used to this._

 

* * *

 

“Is this really necessary?” a raven haired teen asked his two friends who were peeking over the side of a stall. They were crouched low like animals spying on their prey―a pair of boys and a cat that was larger than his aunt’s fat ball of fur, Mochi. In all honesty, the teen was uncomfortable with the idea of tailing the two even if it was for the sole reason of helping their friend from “messing this up” as Jim so put it.

“Of course it is, Tadashi!” his brunette friend answered in a hushed tone, careful that the two would not hear them. But really, the guy manning the stall was already giving them suspicious glances. Well why wouldn’t he? There was a trio of seventeen-year-old boys hiding like a bunch of five-year-olds beside his stall as they spied on their friend who was on a date with his crush―okay, more than crush to be precise.

“And would you pray tell me why that is?” the raven replied fixing his cap as he took a quick glance at their “targets”.

“Because this is Jack we’re talking about.” This time it was the blonde who answered him and the tone of his voice telling the raven that the answer was enough of an explanation.

“Isn’t this an invasion of privacy?” he raised an inquisitive brow at the two who snorted in understanding.

“Yeah, right. Like he didn’t spy on us when we went on our own dates.” Jim smirked, probably remembering the time that Jack had dragged him and Will to spy on the brunette and his date. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Jim was sharp and knew immediately that he was being tailed. The boy had done some things that would make the three leave him alone. Like getting splashed by a smoothie or being chased by a dog or getting almost smothered by girls (Tadashi particularly hated that) etc etc. Well, maybe not all of them were unpleasant; there were a few times that Jim was too focused on his date that he just let them watch. It was also in those moments that they were glad for their friend, seeing him smile and laugh more as he enjoyed the girl’s company. The brunette wasn’t exactly known to having a good reputation, with the constant trouble he got himself with the police and the fights he got involved in their school, the teen would surely warrant such a title. They were happy that there are still some people who didn’t let those words shape their opinion about Jim and got to know him by themselves.

Still, it made Tadashi think that Jim was doing this for payback.

“Besides, at least we’re doing this to help him and not to see how he embarrasses himself in front of the kid,” Will added with a small frown. Tadashi shook his head with a smile at the blonde. He should’ve expected that from him. Jack constantly teased the blonde about a certain Italian friend he had a few states away from them. One he met at a summer camp years ago with a few others. Will had introduced them to the others, but he was still doubtful about letting them meet Nico: 1) Because he didn’t want Jack to scare him away and 2) because Nico wasn’t too taken with meeting new people. (Three would probably be not wanting to get his friends injured, they’ve seen with their own eyes how the Italian can put a guy bigger than him to sleep with a single punch) Will told Nico about them, but unless the boy wanted to meet them on his own accord, he wasn’t going to push him.

Of course, that didn’t keep Jack from wanting to see the boy, so whenever Nico “happened” (meaning at Will’s insistence) to be in town the albino took it upon himself to take a peek (ahem, follow them around town). Will wasn’t thrilled that Jack had been spying on him. The white haired teen could have kept it all to himself, but Jack was too excited to keep his mouth shut and blabbed it to Tadashi and Jim. Will could have also been okay with it if only Jack was able to give some useful advice on how to get Nico to get a hint. The blonde had complained and whined about how the Italian could be so dense when it came to how people felt about him.

(Jim and Tadashi told him to be straight-forward like he always was, but there was still no report on how the two’s relationship is going. But they have a clear guess that their friend and the Italian were moving in that direction. They understood Will’s hesitance because Nico was three years younger than him. Taking it slow was the best course.)

So maybe his friend’s reason for tailing the pair was valid. They just wanted to help Jack get this boy and quite frankly so did he. Tadashi had never seen his white-haired friend this happy and the fact that his grades were going up (not that Jack had bad grades) bordering to an A, only meant that the person was a good influence to him. And when he told them about his feelings for Hiccup, Tadashi was indeed glad for their friend to have found someone he was serious about.

“You know,” Jim’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “If you didn’t want to come you could have just said so,” the brunette told him looking concerned. With a sigh, Tadashi shook his head.

“Even if I didn’t want to, somebody has to keep the both of you in check.” The two grinned sheepishly and Tadashi shook his head once again. “So, what exactly are the two of you planning?” He might as well learn the plan now that he’s agreed to participate.

Jim’s smile broadens at his question and launched on to full schemer mode. “Okay, Operation Freckles’ goal is to get Jack to stop dilly-dallying and make a move on Hiccup. It’s obvious that the two are head-over-heels for each other, but the two of them are too cautious to take a step on exposing their real feelings to the other because they’re afraid they’ll get rejected, not knowing that the other actually feels the same.”

“So… we’re going to help them lay their feelings bare to each other?” Tadashi tilted his head trying to digest Jim’s word.

“Well, not exactly, but yes that’s kind of the idea.” Jim agreed with a nod. “Anyway, we can’t expect Hiccup to make the move. If I’m not wrong, he’s not big on showing his emotions. Plus, it’s quite possible that he’s new to all this dating thing and,” he coughs before saying, “love,” and coughing again. Both Tadashi and Will chuckled at Jim’s discomfort. Among the four of them, Will was the only one who had remotely experienced the “L” word and he and Tadashi were the only ones in their quartet who have a certain understanding about it or discern if it _was_ or not. They may not be experts on love but they knew enough to be able to tell that what Jack and Hiccup have for each other was close to that or exactly that. Jim was still doubtful if it was but he knew their feelings were more than one would have for a friend.

“And that’s why we’re giving Jack a little push to make a move,” Tadashi concluded nodding.

“More like shove if you ask me,” Will commented and the three shared a laugh. “Okay, first would be getting the cat out of the way so the two could have their privacy.”

“And how do you suppose we do that?”

“Well, that’s where you come in,” Will informed as he pointed a finger to the raven.

“Wait, what? Why me?!” Tadashi exclaimed making the two effectively shush him fiercely. They peeked from their spot and saw the two still battling it out in the game booth. Tadashi had a guess that the pair was too concentrated on flooring the other to bother looking for the source of the outburst. Besides, the two seemed to be having too much fun―Hiccup with the game and Jack with watching Hiccup. The trio had lost count with how many game booths the two have tried. (Tadashi smiled to see that the pair was enjoying their selves.) They let out a collective sigh of relief knowing that Jack was still oblivious to their presence. He looked back to the two and asked, “Well, why?”

“Hey, you’re the one who owns a cat. We figured you’d know how to deal with it,” Will shrugged noncommittally. Glancing a bit at the pair and shaking his head smiling as he heard the taunts and teasing remarks they were throwing at each other.

Tadashi washed his hand over his face in exasperation. “Mochi is my aunt’s cat. You can’t just presume that I know how to bait a cat just because Aunt Cass owns one. And besides, despite being both cats there’s a huge possibility that Hiccup’s cat is entirely different from most cats.” He reasoned with a frown. It was just a speculation really, but just from observing from afar, Tadashi could see that the auburn’s pet was something else.

“Relax, you’re a genius, I’m sure you can figure something out.” Jim encouraged him with a pat on the shoulder.

“And if ever you do get yourself injured from the little demon, I’m trained in first aid and quite knowledgeable in the medical field because of my parents.” Will grinned a bit enthusiastically for Tadashi’s taste. “For now, we’ll do a little shoving ourselves.”

“I don’t like the way you guys are smiling,” The raven noted warily as he looked at his friends.

“Psh, chill man. We’re not getting little Jackie hurt.” Jim assured him with a roll of his eyes. “You just sit tight and watch. But remember that we’ve got limited time here. So the faster you think up a plan to get rid of Scar, the better.”

“Scar?” Tadashi cocked a brow at his friend.

“What? That cat looks evil and he looks like a little lion. Besides, he hates Jack and doesn’t want him to get it with Hiccup.” Jim frowned a bit, “Okay maybe that’s a little off from Lion King, since it was Timon who was suspicious of Nala and didn’t want him to get with Simba. Hmm, maybe I should call the cat Simba then, since he didn’t like Kovu making moves on Kiara. Oh forget it!” the brunette groaned stopping his musing and waved his hands as if banishing his thoughts. “You get my point right? Right.” Jim placed his attention back on the pair that were not leaving the booth with Hiccup smiling triumphantly and Jack grumbling beside him. “Sore loser,” the brunette snorted.

Tadashi glanced at Will who supplied an answer to his unasked question. “Jack made him watch.”

It was enough for the teen to understand. Jack just had this talent when it came to influencing people. They never quite knew how the albino could do it, maybe it was one of his many hidden talents. Hopefully, Jack would only influence him with liking Disney.

 

* * *

 

Hiccup worriedly looked over Jack as the teen let out a loud sneeze. “You okay?” he asked him taking out a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to Jack. He accepted it with a smile and wiped his nose which was thankfully looking snot free.

“No, worries Hic,” Jack assured him. “Maybe some people are just talking about me.”  The albino laughed pinching his cheeks. “Man, you’re so cute when confused.” Hiccup swatted his hands away puffing his cheeks (he mentally cursed as he momentarily forgot the bruise he had on the left cheek and tried his best not to wince) in irritation making Jack grin and peck him on the cheek (gladly not the bruised one). The auburn tried his best to stay irritated but really, the moment the teen had planted a kiss on his cheek, his irritation had disappeared immediately. He didn’t want to be too obvious to Jack, if the albino knew a single peck on the cheek was enough to get rid of his foul mood, he would surely deduce that Hiccup was falling for him. And if that happened, the auburn teen was sure this was going to be the last day Jack would come near him. Though Hiccup knew it was inevitable, he wanted this thing he had with Jack to last a little more. Even for just a few days.

“It was Tadashi who told me,” Jack said. He must’ve sported another confused look because the albino began to explain. “He told me that in Japan they had this certain belief than when you sneeze out of the blue it means someone’s talking about you.”

The auburn teen’s mouth made an “O” and nodded in understanding. Though it was a bit strange and in actuality didn’t make any sense, he wasn’t one to talk when his parents nicknamed him after a bodily function believing that a hideous name would frighten off gnomes or trolls. _Viking heritage, great right?_

Hiccup felt a shiver run through his body and the hair at the back of his neck stood on end. He didn’t know why, but he has this vague sense of being watched. It wasn’t the usual feeling of having everyone’s eyes on you. It was more like having a camera trained on you, capturing every single movement you make without missing a beat. It was making him uncomfortable and scared for some reason. He didn’t like it one bit.

The teen was brought out of his thoughts when he felt something being draped over his shoulders and looked at Jack whose face mirrored that of concern. “You were shivering,” he simply said and Hiccup gave him a small smile.

“Thank you,” he replied softly and pulled the albino’s polo closer to his body. He caught a whiff of Jack’s scent on the clothing and like always it helped him calm down, enough to push the thought of being watched at the back of his mind.  Hiccup had loved the albino’s scent the moment he smelled it. It reminded him of soft snow, cold nights drinking hot coco, pine and Christmas.

Something tugged on his hand and the teen rolled his eyes as he searched for his cat. Toothless glared at them impatiently and stared back at the stall he was in front of. Hiccup turned to Jack who raised a brow at him with an amused smirk. The auburn shrugged and the two decided to see what it was that caught the feline’s attention.

“Ah. Should’ve expected that,” Hiccup commented as he saw the assortment of meat and fish being grilled. The smell was enticing and he would be lying if he said it didn’t make his stomach grumble. They had been walking around and trying the different game booths and giving the prices to the kids who were watching them since they couldn’t bring it to their homes. It wouldn’t be strange if he got hungry. Jack must have sensed his hunger because it didn’t take him a minute to take out his wallet and order. They got a shish kebab and the salmon that Toothless was staring at as he licked his furry lips.

Jack found a spot in the open area where other people were sitting on the grass eating. The white-haired teen left to buy drinks and came back with a few more food in hand. He joined Hiccup on the grass folding his legs to sit and set their food between them. The pair laughed as they watched the feline devour the fish with gusto not giving a care about the world. Jack made him try _takoyaki_ by feeding it to him―which made Hiccup frown at being treated like a kid but secretly loved the gesture. They ate like that with the albino making him try everything he bought and feeding it to him, ignoring the auburn’s protests and refusing to take a “no” threatening to _use his mouth and shove his tongue in_ than his hand instead. Jack even wiped the sauce that was dripping from the corner of his mouth with his thumb and licked it, grinning suggestively at the auburn. Hiccup threw a crumpled tissue at the boy and willed the blush painting his cheeks to subside.

He wasn’t being a prude. It was one thing to do this with just the two of them. It was another being out in the open. He can’t even get his mind to process the fact that Jack was with him here, sitting and eating with him, talking and laughing like normal teenagers. And don’t get him started on the hand holding and the kissing. Hiccup still felt like he was transported into another dimension, but he knew this was real and it was happening. The aching of his bruises was enough proof, not to mention Toothless’ incessant glaring and growling every time the jock made an intimate advance.

When they were finished, they gathered their garbage and proceeded to throw them into the garbage can. They started to walk with no particular destination in mind and just enjoyed the other’s presence beside them. Hiccup noticed Jack slow down and look back, his gaze following something that passed by them. Hiccup’s eyes searched for that particular thing that caught the teen’s attention and spotted a guy with blond hair. He would’ve grown jealous realizing that the man was clearly attractive until he saw the large blue cotton candy that the man was eating. He couldn’t keep himself from giggling as he saw Jack bounce excitedly as he saw blue colored cotton candy. The teen eagerly searched where the blonde could’ve bought it and beamed when he saw the cotton candy stand not too far away from them. He eagerly pulled the freckled teen to it and Hiccup let his eyes take in the stall that looked like a little pocket into a different world with the multi-colored clouds of cotton candy and the designs used giving it a fairy tale vibe. It was a little kid’s fantasy brought to real life. Jack ordered one and soon they left the stall with a mini puffy cloud of blue sugary goodness as huge as Toothless.

“You certainly have a fascination for blue,” Hiccup noted as he pinched a part of the cotton candy.

“It’s a nice color. It’s cool and relaxing and makes you think of the sky,” Jack explained as he chewed a piece. Hiccup glanced at the teen and saw him looking up at the starry sky with a thoughtful expression. “I’ve always wanted to fly. Like fly, _fly_. You know, feel the wind hitting your body and brushing your hair, carrying you wherever you want to go. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to fly?” He turned to the shorter teen and Hiccup looked away quickly, embarrassed at being caught staring.

He tried to focus on the jock’s question rather than his mesmerizing orbs and didn’t have any difficulty at finding an answer. “Yes, I have. Ever since I was a kid, I guess. The idea of flying gives you a sense of freedom. That you can’t be bound to the earth and you can just… go out there. To be so high up and no one else can reach you, there’s nothing but the clouds, the sky, the stars and you.” _No dad to worry about disappointing, no insults and bullies to deal with, and no fear of being yourself._

“It would be pretty awesome if we had super powers and somehow we both end up with flying,” the teen laughed. “But if there’s a chance that I’m the only to get that super power, I could give you ride.” Jack gently nudged him with a grin.

“That’s thoughtful of you,” Hiccup said and later added with a smirk, “but I think I’ll find a dragon and tame it. Then we can both fly and I could later shoot you down if you annoy the Hel out of me.”

“You and your dragons,” Jack snorted smiling as he shook his head.

“You get to have an obsession for snow and blue. I think I’m entitled to have my own with dragons,” the auburn stuck his tongue out at the teen.

“Well at least my obsession isn’t― Hey! Watch it!” the pale teen shouted as he was forcibly elbowed out of the way by someone. Hiccup’s brows pinched as a nagging voice at the back of his head told him he knew the person but quickly dismissed the thought. The brunette man did seem familiar but he couldn’t be sure why. Maybe it was someone he saw somewhere before. He shrugged at the thought and faced Jack.

“You okay?” he asked Jack and saw him squinting at something in the direction the man took. The shorter teen cocked his head to the side as he watched the pale teen make his way towards another game booth. He scratched the back of head and shrugged as he followed Jack with an unwilling Toothless. The game was one where you had to throw a ball and knock down the pins that were set up. He looked up at the prizes which were all stuffed toys as expected. He wondered what Jack was looking it at until he spotted the large white and blue dragon almost hidden behind Sully of Monsters Inc. and Experiment 626 of Lilo and Stitch.

“You’re kidding,” Hiccup said facing Jack who was already paying. The guy who looked just about the albino’s age handed him three balls and the teen accepted it with a thank you.

“Of course not, don’t you think it’s a perfect souvenir for this date?” Jack flashed him his famous winning smile and the freckled boy ducked his head hiding his blush. Even after being at the receiving end of that smile for weeks it still had the same effect on him.

“You don’t need to get it you know,” the boy told him fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

“I know, but I want to. I want to win it for you.” Hiccup felt Jack tug at his hand and when he looked up, the taller teen wasted no time to press their lips together in a quick kiss. “For luck,” he grinned shyly and positioned himself in front of the stall.

Hiccup smiled a little when he saw the coloring of the other teen’s cheeks. He noticed the guy running the booth staring at them strangely but he shook his head with a small smile and made no comment about the two teens. The auburn scratched his cheek consciously and placed his attention on the albino. Hiccup had never seen Jack this serious. His face mirrored that of perfect concentration and he looked more like himself when he played soccer. He was never a fan of sports but being in the photography club and an extra hand in the school paper, he was forced to watch some matches to take shots. He didn’t pay attention that much about Jack so he didn’t know if he played any other sport than soccer, all he knew was he was the team’s star player and he was incredibly good at it. Jack didn’t talk that much about sport when he was with him; Hiccup had guessed it was more like a pass time for the teen than something he would consider making a career.

The shorter teen observed the jock take on a pitcher’s stance and as if in slow motion he watched the teen draw his hand back and let loose of the ball. There was a resounding thud and pins falling to the floor. Hiccup trained his eyes back to the booth and saw an indentation on the board. He swore he could still see the ball spinning and smoke forming before it dropped to the floor joining the pins. The guy in the booth let out a low whistle undoubtedly impressed.

“You throw a mean fast ball,” the guy said nodding approvingly. “Seeing that you’re not in our school’s team, I’m assuming you’re not from here.”

“Thanks, I guess I haven’t lost my touch yet,” Jack answered with a smile. “Yeah, we live a few towns from here.”

“Ah, guessed as much, not a lot of fans with the relationship I bet. So take your pick. What’ll you give your boyfriend?” The guy gestured to the stuffed toys hanging above him. Hiccup grew embarrassed at being referred to as Jack’s boyfriend. He secretly waited for Jack to correct the guy about him being his boyfriend but it never came. Instead the teen reached for his hand and gave it a light squeeze.

“I’ll take that dragon.” The albino pointed to the one Hiccup had spotted and the guy reached for it handing it to Hiccup with a smile.

“Thanks,” the auburn teen mumbled accepting the stuffed dragon.

“Well, welcome to our humble little town. I hope you two enjoy the fair.” The guy told them. “Best wishes with your relationship,” he added with genuine sincerity looking at both of them in the eye meaningfully. It made the two stiffen a bit but Jack soon regained his composure and relaxed.

“Thanks man. See ‘ya around.” Jack replied grinning and the pair walked away with a last wave.

It was strange how it seemed like the guy knew what was going on between them. Maybe they were able to simultaneously look like they’re in a relationship but also not. Even Hiccup could feel it, that despite the kissing, the touching, and being all intimate. There was still something missing, as if there was this wall between them, and Hiccup perfectly knew what it was. It was the thing that held him back from voicing his real feelings. He didn’t know if it was the same thing with Jack though. Still, it was frightening how the guy somehow saw through them even with just a short exchange. Hiccup wondered if his feelings for Jack were that obvious. He hoped it wasn’t, because then Jack would know and Hiccup couldn’t take it if one day the albino would just stop seeing him without properly breaking it off.

“You’re brows are all scrunched up again. A penny for your thoughts?” he heard Jack say and Hiccup snapped out of his mind. He looked up to see Jack smiling at him but he could see the worry swimming in his cobalt blues.

“It’s nothing.” He gripped the stuffed dragon and hugged it closer to himself. “T-Thanks for this by the way.”

“Don’t mention it, Hic. Ooh, we should name him. He could be our baby. I mean with how much we have sex I’m bound to knock you up right?” Jack laughed at the look on the auburn’s face and Hiccup hit him on the shoulder. “Ow, jeez I was just kidding. I didn’t know you hated being a mommy that much. But seriously, you should name him.”

“Fine, I’ll name him.” Hiccup purposefully ignored how the albino’s face beamed at the idea. He didn’t know why Jack was so ecstatic about it, but being the excitable guy that he is, Hiccup was pretty much sure the guy was not going to drop it until he yielded. The boy stared at the dragon, taking note of the blue little spikes that he guessed were supposed to be icicles. It also had two large tusks covered in what looked like frost. The dragon’s body was pure white and its claws were black. It reminded him slightly of a triceratops only longer and less bulky with wings and minus the crown. The stuff toys material was soft and so fluffy; Hiccup would never get tired of hugging it. (Toothless wasn’t much of a cuddle buddy at times). “How about Snowstorm?” he suggested turning to the albino for approval.

“Why Snowstorm?” Jack asked resuming to finish the cotton candy they had neglected.

“Hmm. He seems like he’d be a powerful dragon if he wasn’t looking so cute and cuddly. Instead of breathing fire, he breathes ice, but he can have a limited supply of shots of fire balls and they don’t pack that much power since he’s an ice dragon. The spikes on his tail can be used as projectiles and he could also create icy mist as some kind of alternative smoke screen. _And_ he can create powerful snowstorms with his wings and ice, thus the name.” He explained smiling at the end. He was feeling the excitement he was getting from the ideas he had come up with. He would surely start sketching when he got back home and write a detailed description about the dragon.

“You’re going to draw him, aren’t you?” the albino stated raising a brow at him and Hiccup blushed noticing the signs of his start to “geeking out”. Jack chuckled and shook his head. “You better let me see this sketch of Snowstorm once it’s finished.”

“Yeah I’ll le―” Hiccup’s sentence was cut short as he felt someone bump into him too forcefully sending him to collide onto Jack. The albino caught him easily and he tried his best not to cry. Whoever had bumped into him had managed to hit a particularly bad bruise. Even if Snowstorm (Oh hey! He’s using the name already) had somehow cushioned the impact it still hurt. He heard Jack yell angrily at whoever bumped into him but his attention was immediately back to the auburn when he noticed the tears threatening to fall from the boy’s eyes. Jack was careful in helping him up and avoided to touch any of his bruises.

At the same time, something zoomed passed them and Toothless, always being the curious thing he was, started to chase it. Hiccup, without realizing, had loosened his grip on the leash but before he could grab it and stop Toothless from running off, the leash had slipped from his hand.

“Toothless! Bud come back!” But the feline was too fast and before the pair could start chasing him, the black fur ball was already gone. “Oh come on!” he shouted, the whine slipping into his voice.

“I’m sure he’ll find his way back to you. I mean, with how overprotective he is, that devil of a cat of yours wouldn’t leave you with me that long,” Jack tried to placate his worry and his words managed to crack a smile to his lips.

“I guess so. He really doesn’t trust you anyway.”

“And he would’ve failed his mission of tagging along if he lets us have some alone time,” Jack wiggled his brows making Hiccup laugh but instantly hiss.

“Darn it, Jack. You shouldn’t have made me laugh. That impact from earlier made all my bruises hurt again.”

“Sorry, Hic. Come on, I think I’ve got painkillers in my car,” He put a protective arm over Hiccup’s shoulder and pressed the boy closer to him to make sure he could easily maneuver him out of the way if someone thinks of crashing into him again. “But seriously, what’s with people and bumping? First me and now you. It seemed like those assholes did it on purpose.”

“And why exactly would they do that on purpose?” Hiccup raised a brow a questioningly but it made him wonder at the same time too.

“I don’t know. It just seemed like it,” Jack shrugged.

“Just let it go.” Hiccup sighed. He hugged Snowstorm closer to him, strategically positioning it to shield his bruises from getting hit.

“All right. But I guess I could thank that guy somehow.”

“And why is that?”

Jack grinned widely and brought his face to whisper directly into Hiccup’s ears. “Because now, you’re chaperone’s off my back and I have you all to myself even for just a bit,” the albino told him in a husky voice making a shudder run through his spine.

“Jack, w-what are you planning?” Hiccup inquired cautiously willing his legs not to lose their strength and turn to jelly.

“Oh, you’ll see.” Jack said cryptically smirking and the white-haired teen pulled him to the direction of his car for his much needed painkillers.

**….**

“Crap, that looked like it hurt a lot,” Jim winced as he watched the man collide into Hiccup and looked like he was praying that the kid wouldn’t come out bruised from that.

“It didn’t _look_ like it. It _actually_ hurt a _lot_ ,” Will corrected with emphasis. “It seems he’s got some fresh injuries himself, the poor kid’s about to cry,” he added as he noticed the auburn teen blinking back tears. “Damn, if Jack ever finds out we had anything to do with that, he is going to kill us.”

“Kill _us_? Don’t you mean just the _two_ of you?” Tadashi retorted as he readied his little invention. The bait was tied and secured and all he had to do was let it loose. Turning it on, the small drone zoomed to the direction of the two teens passing by them and effectively catching the attention of the Maine Coon who was now hot on its tail.

“Hey, _you_ are part of the plan too. So you’re as responsible for everything as us,” Jim said with a frown crossing his arms over his chest.

“Excuse me, I thought _I_ was only here to _lure_ out the cat so the two could have some ‘privacy’?” Tadashi argued as his eyes remained on the drone he was controlling. The little devil was really fast and if he knew better, he only had a few seconds before it pounced on his toy. “Besides it’s your fault for asking that stranger to _bump_ into Hiccup.” He reminded the two, sarcasm slipping into his tone.

“We didn’t know he’d do it so strongly,” Will retorted in defense.

“Well you should have made sure he didn’t.”

“Have you even gotten the cat yet?” the brunette interjected trying to shift the conversation in a different direction.

“Oh I’ve got him all right.” It wasn’t a second later that the drone Tadashi was controlling stopped in front of them and a shadow pounced on it, sending the drone crashing to the ground. “Are you kidding me?” the Asian stared gaping at his now broken drone. He scooped it up like a child and his shoulders slumped seeing the damage. Repairing it was out of the question, he’d have to build it again. Who would’ve knew that the cat was a heavy weight? “You guys owe me parts,” he glared at his friends.

“Fine, fine, we’ll supply you with them.” Jim groaned, obviously mentally calculating the cost of buying the parts Tadashi would need to rebuild the drone. At least Will was there to shoulder half the cost. With his parents salary he could’ve paid for it on his own, but that would be a bit suspicious and Jim was not one to smooch off of his friends. Money doesn’t just grow on trees (though people say it’s made out tree bark, but in fact of cotton and linen), you work for it. _Hard._

The trio turned to the “shadow” that destroyed the raven’s drone and saw that it was happily eating the piece of grilled salmon Tadashi used as bait.

“Well, I guess that was a success,” Will offered with a smile.

“Now, we just have to keep this fur ball occupied.” Jim tried to approach the feline making it hiss and swipe at him. The brunette yelped and jumped back, immediately hiding behind Will and pushing the blonde to the cat who was clearly not fond of the idea as he tried to push back Jim.

“You guys are unbelievable,” Tadashi shook his head at how ridiculous his friends were being and crouched, extending his hand to the feline. “Hey, Toothless. Come here buddy, I’m not gonna hurt you. I just wanna help.” The cat looked at him warily but slowly took a step. “You want more of that salmon? I could give you some more, just don’t run off okay?” At the mention of the said treat, Toothless’ wary stance instantly melted away and approached Tadashi with a purposeful gait. The raven teen scratched the spot where he noticed Hiccup always did and he watched the cat lean in closer to his touch purring happily.

“See? We told you, you’d be able to do it.”  Jim pointed out proudly and Will nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you guys say.” Tadashi slipped the leash into his hand making sure he had a tight hold on it to prevent Toothless from escaping him. “Now, that we’ve got this guy bribed and captured. Let’s hope that Jack uses this as a chance to really make a move.”

“He’s an idiot if he doesn’t. By the way, that was a great idea with the cotton candy,” Jim turned to Will patting him on the shoulder.

“And getting Jack to notice that game booth,” the blonde smiled back. “It’s a good thing we wore disguises too. I swear Hiccup almost recognized you. And I still can’t believe we messed up other people’s shots so they wouldn’t get to pick the dragon.” Will chuckled shaking his head.

“You guys are evil,” Tadashi deadpanned making the two give him twin Cheshire grins. He rolled his eyes at his friends. _I am never letting these guys find out if I ever go on a date,_ he grumbled to himself. “We should better buy some more salmon if we want Toothless to stay on our side.”

The trio glanced back at the feline who was eyeing them expectantly. Sighing, the group went on their way to the direction of the food stalls. They needed to feed themselves too. All that meddling they did was finally making their stomachs grumble.

 


	8. This is Bliss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a Ferris wheel involved and everything was almost perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'd like to apologize that it took so long to finally post a chapter. I haven't been writing in a while so I'm still trying to get things back into swing, regain my writing mojo and all that biz.
> 
> I'm back in Uni too, so I can't promise to update as fast and frequently too. Plus, I don't know if I've mentioned it here or back in FFnet, but I have depression. I'm battling it and though there are good days, there are also bad and real crappy ones.
> 
> And since I'm just getting back to writing again, I don't expect this chapter to be that good. It's like learning to walk all over again, so please forgive me. This is not beta'd so all mistakes are mine. I do hope you enjoy it though.

It was breathtaking, Jack decided. The sight before him was undeniably breathtaking. He stared as those sparkling jade eyes widened at the scene below them. It was beautiful how the smile erupted from the boy’s usually apathetic face and displayed his crooked teeth which he had always found adorable. He listened as Hiccup rambled on about Ferris wheel mechanics, his observation of the scene far beneath them, and the sky that they were brought closer to. Jack never got tired hearing the boy’s voice and his laughter, moon, could he listen to that all day as if it were his favorite song.

_Crap. I really do have it bad,_ he laughed to himself and shook his head.

Hiccup saw him do this and tilted his head to the side in a curious manner. “You okay Jack?” he asked and the white-haired teen shot him a smile.

“Never been better,” he assured him and he scooted a bit closer to Hiccup. “So tell me, is this really your first time riding a Ferris wheel?”

Hiccup rolled his eyes at Jack’s question. He was probably tired of repeating himself which was definitely understandable because Jack had asked the question quite a few times already. But Jack just couldn’t wrap his mind around it. How can someone at the age of sixteen still not have ridden a Ferris wheel yet? Even he rode one when he was in elementary! And Emma was still a baby that time! Surely, Hiccup wasn’t that underprivileged to not be able to ride a Ferris wheel until now, right?

“No, Jack I’m not underprivileged like what you’re thinking,” Hiccup raised a brow at Jack’s surprised expression. “It’s not that hard to guess the path of your thought process Jack. And besides, we’ve known each other for what? A month, give or take? I’m bound to pick up a few things about you.”

Jack laughed nervously feeling a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead. It wasn’t that hard to guess the path of his thought process? He was bound to pick up a few things about him? Jack could feel himself choking and he coughed to get rid of that block. What was he trying to say? Was Hiccup telling him that he somehow knew? That he had an idea about Jack’s true feelings about him? Then how come he wasn’t telling him anything! Wait. Maybe he’s waiting for him to man up and say something himself? Was that it? Was Hiccup waiting for Jack to tell him on his own volition?

If that were the case, Hiccup was pretty good at acting oblivious about his feelings. But somehow, Jack had a feeling that Hiccup didn’t know. He was still somehow nervous when Jack would touch him or even be close to him. He didn’t know how he knew that Hiccup didn’t actually know. (Damn, that was confusing.) It was just like what Hiccup said, after knowing him for weeks Jack was bound to pick up a few things about the auburn. He could just read it from Hiccup that he didn’t know anything, yet. And he hoped to the gods that Hiccup really didn’t. He wanted Hiccup to hear it from him and not from anyone else.

“Anyway, what makes you think I’m underprivileged in the first place?” Hiccup interrupted his thoughts and Jack blinked but quickly schooled his expression.

“Well, I just think every person deserves a chance to ride a Ferris wheel at least once in their childhood,” Jack answered with a shrug. “What? Don’t look at me like that! It’s perfectly reasonable you know,” he huffed and crossed his arms defensively.

“And how is that reasonable?” Hiccup challenged and Jack readily answered, ”It just is. I mean, dude. Every kid at least dreams of knowing how the clouds feel like. And riding a Ferris wheel is one of the things that could bring you closer to the sky.”

Hiccup slumps back on his seat, making their cart sway a little. “Okay, I get your point. But still, it isn’t that bad for you to be so incredulous about it and even make it sound like a crime. Besides, I’m not the only person in the universe who hasn’t ridden a Ferris wheel at this age.”

Jack couldn’t stop the small smile that lifted from the corner of his lips when he saw the boy cross his arms over his chest and that adorable pout appear on his lips. He threw his arm over the boy’s shoulder to pull him closer to him and planted a kiss on his forehead. Even without looking, he knew Hiccup was blushing at the gesture. At least he didn’t pull away but fitted himself snuggly against Jack’s side and buried his face on the older teen’s chest.

“Well, I’m happy I made the right choice to bring you here,” he answered back. They stayed like that in perfect comfortable silence. It was at this point that the Ferris wheel stopped and Jack couldn’t believe his luck when their cart was stuck at the peak, providing a wonderful view of the fair below them and the city.

It was strange really. For someone who was loud and enjoyed being active, Jack never thought he would find comfort in this sort of silence. No words exchanged. Not even glances. Hiccup was the only person who made him feel like this. Jack had his own fair share of dates, but not one of them made him want to just sit and be with them.

He felt the boy shiver next to him and Jack wrapped his other arm around the boy. He entwined their fingers together and squeezed gently. He smiled when Hiccup returned the gesture and snuggled much closer to Jack.

Being with Hiccup, sitting next to him and being surrounded by the night sky, the lights below, the gentle evening breeze and everything else. He couldn’t help but want to bask in the moment. It was enough for him to feel Hiccup next to him. To just sit there and be enveloped by the moment. To exist and simply be. It was funny, that despite their unconventional meeting — being like this with Hiccup — it didn’t stop him from falling for the boy harder. It couldn’t stop him from undeniably, irrevocably falling in love with the younger teen.

And with that realization, he couldn’t help himself from planting another kiss on Hiccup’s hair. Hiccup huffed out a laugh at the action and slowly lifted his head from Jack’s chest. He found himself staring into those amazing eyes again and felt his breath hitch when that oh-so-rare smile graced Hiccup’s lips again. An incredibly warm feeling spread in his chest at the sight, because _he_ put that there. _He_ made _that_ happen. And it felt damn good.

“Thanks for taking me out Jack,” Hiccup said and he tipped his head at just the right angle to land his lips perfectly on Jack’s. It was just a light touch of lips, a gentleness leaving you with a barely there feeling. Hiccup drew back but not far enough that Jack couldn’t feel the auburn’s breath on his skin.

“I’m glad you let me take you out,” he whispered back. He brought his hand to cup Hiccup’s face and he leaned in to let their lips meet again. The kiss they shared was soft and slow. Their lips moving languidly against each other, tasting and reacquainting themselves with each corner of their mouths. They broke off but immediately surged back, unable to keep themselves separated for too long. The need to be connected burning in their very souls. Hiccup opened his mouth a bit more. Not one to deny an obvious invitation, Jack delved into the hot cavern. The kiss became heated, tongues tangling in a seductive dance. It’s the first time Jack felt Hiccup battle for dominance but in the end he still won out. He ran his tongue against the roof of Hiccup’s mouth making the younger teen release a wanton sound that sent all of his blood down south. Hiccup retaliated by biting his lower lip and licking it, making Jack groan. He unconsciously caressed the teen’s sides, still mindful of his injuries, fingertips tracing shapes on the cloth covering Hiccup’s sensitive hips. The auburn shivered and bucked his hips, unknowingly dragging his crotch against Jack’s.

Their mouths disconnected as both teens groaned at the delicious friction. Jack didn’t know when Hiccup had straddled him but he held the auburn as they tried to catch their breaths. They stared at each other and Jack cursed inwardly at the image Hiccup makes. He was panting, lips swollen red, a generous flush covering his face down to his neck, his hair he had fixed earlier was a mess and the beautiful green in those eyes were barely discernible as the black swallowed them up. The younger teen was completely debauched and Jack had to struggle to keep himself from taking the auburn then and there. Before they could decide to either continue or not, the sound of an explosion shocked them out of their daze and both teens looked up at the sky that was now brightly lit with fireworks.

Jack just held on to Hiccup as they watched the fireworks display. The auburn turned his gaze back to the teen and his brow was cocked in an amused manner. “You sure know how to impress a date huh?”

The older teen smiled broadly and pecked Hiccup on the nose. “Nah, only you Hiccup. Only you. Wanted to make this memorable for you.” He found his heart fluttering at the fact that Hiccup had called it a date.

Hiccup rolled his eyes but the smile on his lips didn’t go away. They felt the Ferris wheel start to move again and Hiccup swung his leg over to sit back next to Jack. They took each other’s hands and entwined their fingers. They still held hands as they get down from the ride, an air of pleasantness surrounding the teens.

“Hey, Jack,” Hiccup called and the white-haired teen glanced at the boy. He was biting his lower lip and he wasn’t looking at him, all signs that indicated he was anxious. Jack’s brows furrowed a little, wondering what had the boy worrying all of a sudden.

“Yes, Hiccup?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“’Course, you can, Hic.” They slowed to a stop and Jack found himself facing the other boy. Hiccup’s hand had slipped from his hold and though Jack looked relaxed on the outside, deep inside he was starting to freak out. It was a simple action but it had him worrying. What did Hiccup want to ask that he had to let go of his hand? The space between them felt like miles instead of the mere two feet that they actually were. Hiccup was fidgeting, his feet shuffling nervously and he couldn’t look him in the eye. Jack suddenly hated the fact that he let Hiccup ask him this question. Whatever it was, he just hoped it wasn’t anything bad

“Why— Why didn’t you—”

Jack never heard the end of that question as a thrill sound pierced the air, interrupting the auburn. Hiccup scrambled to reach for his pockets and brought out his phone, fumbling and almost dropping it. When his eyes landed on the screen, he let out a crisp, “shit” and immediately slid his thumb on it to answer. “Dad! Hey Dad, Hi Dad. This is Hiccup,” the teen laughed nervously. “Wh-Why are you calling all of a sudden?”

The jock couldn’t hear what Hiccup’s father said but the wince the teen made and how he deflated immediately told Jack it wasn’t good.

“I didn’t mean it that way, Dad. You just— you rarely call, okay? I was just surprised.” Hiccup’s eyes bugged out and he was tapping his fingers on his pant leg, “I’m at home. No, that’s just my laptop. I’m watching a movie.” Hiccup shot a look at Jack and he understood.

Jack knew that Hiccup’s father didn’t know about him being friends with the boy. Heck, all of the times they’ve spent on each other were stolen time. Sneaking and slipping in meeting each other through both their schedules, making sure that no one would notice (except his best friends apparently). It was also obvious that Hiccup hasn’t come out to his father yet and Jack didn’t want to cause the teen any trouble unless he was ready about it. So he nodded and took Hiccup’s hand and they were suddenly speed walking to his car.

“Of course not! Why would I? All right, I get it. I’ve already eaten no need to bring me home anything, Toothless on the other hand… yeah, yeah he’d like that. Yes, dad. I didn’t forget. Okay, bye.”

Exactly when the call had ended they were already in the parking lot and immediately spotted the car. They caught their breaths a bit before running towards it. Before they reached it though, the white-haired teen saw the menacing acid green glare of a certain monstrous cat and soon found himself being tackled to the ground and bitten on the hand. And surprise, surprise it was the hand holding Hiccup’s.

“Ow! Ow! Jeez you little devil, stop! I didn’t do anything! I was just holding his hand!” Jack yelped when those fangs dug in a little deeper. “All right! All right, I admit! I did kiss him, but I didn’t defile him in public! Toothless!” He saw Hiccup trying to hold back his laugh but the way he clutched his stomach and bit his lip, Jack knew he’d just end up laughing. He was glad that the tension weighing on the teen’s shoulder after the phone call had dissipated. “Hiccup!” he whined and that broke the teen, letting the laughter rack his body.

Hiccup reached for Toothless, scratching him on that special spot, and soon enough Toothless slowly eased on Jack’s hand. “Come on, bud. Be nice to Jack for once,” he told his cat as he continued to scratch him. Toothless let out a protesting mewl at that making Hiccup snort. “Guess, you’ve got a long way to gain his approval.”

Jack stood up and dusted himself free, shooting a playful glare at the Maine Coon. “Oh don’t you worry. He’ll warm up to me, just you wait.” He took his keys out of his pocket and opened the door for Hiccup to slip into, stealing a quick kiss where Toothless growled threateningly and Jack smirked tauntingly. Hiccup rolled his eyes at his ridiculousness for picking a fight against the cat and pushed the older teen to go over to the driver’s seat. With that, they drove back home.

* * *

 

Hiccup didn’t know what to say. For some reason, he couldn’t break the awkward silence they found themselves in when he entered Jack’s car. He could sense that Jack didn’t like the quiet that enveloped them and wanted to bring back the light carefree atmosphere they had in the fair. Hiccup never thought that he’d miss Jack’s constant rambling until now. There was never truly a silent moment with Jack. He would either fill it with little conversation, speaking his mind out or covering him with soft touches and kisses. He would fill the silence by having them connected, feeling each other breathe and reminding himself that Hiccup was there with him.

He understood, that for some reason, Jack was giving him space. He knew that Hiccup was new with all the touching business. That sometimes it overwhelms him and he needs to take a break, to pause and breathe for a minute. It still overwhelmed him some times that somebody actually wanted to touch him. That someone actually liked his presence. And even though he’s already accepted the fact that he’s in love with Jack, that he’s okay with this kind of setup, it still scared him how much he found himself unwilling to let go the more time he spends with him after that realization. And after this date? It’s not fair that he was given everything with the threat of it being ripped from his hands hanging over his head. He didn’t want this to end and it hurt because he knew he can’t actually have this. That there was no guarantee that he could keep this.

Hiccup hated that he can’t close the suffocating space between them. He needed to touch Jack. He needed to feel him. He needed to know that he was there. He needed to bridge back that connection they have. He needed _Jack_. But he couldn’t because he’s a coward. He couldn’t because he doesn’t even know if Jack actually wants more. He couldn’t because it doesn’t feel the same if Jack doesn’t have the same level of affection for him. He just couldn’t.

_Dear Odin, I’m pathetic._ He hugged Snowstorm and Toothless closer to him, burying his face on the soft fur of his best friend. Toothless let out a worried “mrrow” and turned to lick Hiccup on the cheek. He smiled a little as Toothless began to nuzzle him to comfort him.

It also wasn’t helping that worry, fear and guilt was eating him up. All his life, he had done nothing to please his father. He obeyed every word as much as he could even if some of those orders suffocated the Hel out of him. His dad may have loosened up on controlling every one of his decisions because really, he wasn’t Stoick’s son if he wasn’t stubborn as his father. But he had never really sneaked out, he had never really outright lied to his Dad. This was the first time he actually did something like this. It was a sad thought that his dad would even be more suspicious if he said he was with a friend. He could have said he was over at a classmate’s house doing a project. But he would have asked for permission right? And Thor knows Hiccup was a bad liar. That was the reason he never actually put himself in a situation where he was forced to lie through his teeth. Until now that is.

“Hiccup, we’re here,” he heard Jack say and Hiccup snapped his head up to look out the window. He was so trapped in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized the car had stopped and he was staring at his house. The lights were out and Hiccup sighed in relief. Good, he made it before his dad. He must still be buying dinner. Hiccup didn’t know what would be waiting for him if his dad had made it before him. Of all the days that his dad had been let out of work early, it had to be today. He would have liked to stay a bit longer in the fair but Fate just hated him and she just had to screw him over like that. Damn his luck. He unbuckled himself from the seat and when he reached to open his door, it was already opening on itself. He looked up to find Jack smiling gently at him and Hiccup felt his cheeks burn.

He was ashamed that he hasn’t been paying attention to Jack, getting trapped in his head. The older teen offered his hand to help him out of the car and Hiccup didn’t deny him that. He was happy that he got to touch Jack again, despite the stifling awkwardness that his dad’s phone call had left them in the whole car ride and Hiccup’s inability to break it. Jack gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and Hiccup couldn’t help but give a small smile back. Toothless didn’t even complain and remained quiet. He probably sensed that Hiccup needed this.

“You gonna be okay?” Jack asked him and Hiccup nodded. He can’t seem to find his voice and he hated it. So instead, he squeezed Jack’s hand back before slowly letting go. Jack’s forehead creased in a worried expression and Hiccup noticed that he was biting the inside of his cheek. He looked like he wanted to say something and Hiccup stood there with Toothless by his feet, waiting for whatever it was Jack wanted to say. It felt like forever before Jack finally gathered his thoughts and looked at Hiccup in the eye.

“You never really got to finish your question earlier,” he rubbed the back of his neck smiling embarrassed.

Hiccup chuckled at the display. Jack sure looked adorable with that expression. The auburn teen shook his head and an easy smile lifted on his lips, the tension finally seeping out of his shoulders. “Nah, it was nothing.” As much as he was curious to know why Jack didn’t correct the guy earlier about them being boyfriends, he’ll just let it go. Perhaps another time. Besides, his dad could arrive in any minute now and he can’t let the man see Jack.

Jack didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push. They stood there just staring at each other until Toothless let out an impatient meow. Jack laughed and shook his head. “I guess, I’ll be going now. Don’t want to land you into any more trouble.”

“Yeah. B-be careful on your drive home,” he called out as Jack was walking back to the driver’s seat. Hiccup was tapping his foot on the pavement, eyes darting to the surroundings. He didn’t want Jack to leave just like that. So before he could make sense of what he was about to do, his feet were striding towards Jack, hand stretched out to grab him on the shoulder spinning him around before snaking it to his nape and bringing their lips together. Jack let out a surprised sound, undoubtedly not expecting Hiccup’s action. He stood stock still for a moment but soon enough, his hands moved to the auburn’s hips and he was kissing him back.

Admittedly, this was one of the best kisses they ever shared. They were both clinging onto each other, reluctant to let go of the other. And this kindled a hope inside of Hiccup. Maybe, just maybe, Jack felt the same way for him. Maybe this date was his way of showing it.

_Or maybe he’s just being really nice to you. Probably felt pity since you’ve never been dated before,_ the pessimistic side of his mind whispered mockingly and Hiccup tried to squash it down. He did not need that voice ruining the little hope that was starting burn in his chest. He didn’t need that flickering light be extinguished by his own poisonous thoughts.

Slowly, the teens broke away. Jack leaned his forehead on his, panting and taking in much needed oxygen. They were so close that their breaths mingled and they could feel the warmth hitting their skin. Jack’s hand lay on his cheek, cupping it tenderly. They stared at each other and Hiccup sighed contentedly as Jack’s thumb caressed his cheek.

“I should go,” the pale teen whispered.

“Y-ye—” Hiccup swallowed and closed his eyes. “Yeah, you really should.” But none of them made a move. Both of them reluctant to step out of the bubble they were encased in. The decision was taken away from their hands though, when Toothless growled at Jack, making the jock chuckle. The taller teen drew back but his hold on the boy lingered a bit, before finally letting him go. They took a step away from each other, putting as much space between them, just to prevent themselves from wanting to grab the other.

“See ya Hiccup.” Jack waved at him as he walked to his car.

“Yeah, see ya Jack.” They exchanged one last smile before Jack drove away. Hiccup waited until it was out of his sight before he turned and walked towards their house. He was already on the porch when he felt something prickle at the back of his head. It was that same sensation of being watched again and Hiccup shivered. The boy looked behind him and scanned the vicinity but he saw nothing out of place. Shrugging, thinking that it must just be his paranoia, Hiccup shook the thought out of his mind. He slipped his key into the door and opened it. He dropped his keys on the bowl atop the drawers beside the door. He was walking to the stairs when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes. He backtracked and glanced into the living room.

“Do you really think I wouldn’t know?”

Dread washed over him at the sound of that voice. With a flick, the lamp was on and someone was sitting on the large chair. He didn’t need to ask who it was, because there was only one person he knew that would fit who it was. The person stood and Hiccup took an unconscious step back at the tower of a man walking towards him.

“Da—”

“Nothing happens in this town without me hearing about it, Heccup.”

Hiccup closed his eyes. _Please let this be a dream. This can’t be happening._


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is angst and some comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took this long. This is un-beta'd. Forgive my mistakes.
> 
> Diclaimer: Characters belong to DreamWorks.

“Nothing happens in this town without me hearing about it, Heccup.”

His dad’s voice rang clear in the air. Hiccup couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t even think of what to say. His mind drew into a blank as he did his best imitation of a fish out of water by the way his mouth opened and closed, words failing him when he needed them most. He knew he shouldn’t lie or try to get out of it. There was really no use. His dad was a lawyer  ― observant and knowledgeable of the tells when he was being lied to. And Hiccup, being a sensible teen, knew enough when he was caught or not. Yet instead of admitting the truth, the words that came out of his mouth were:

“Oh really?”

Undeterred, his dad took another step towards him as he said, “You’ve been keeping secrets.”

“I-I have?” he stammered almost stumbling as he took a retreating step.

“Just how long do you think you could hide it from me?”

“I— I don’t know… w-what you’re talking about…” He avoided looking into his dad’s eyes,  _ gods _ why can’t he keep his mouth shut? He stole a glance at his dad and the hard stare he received had him backing and bumping into the kitchen island, slipping and toppling over himself. His dad caught him in time. Hiccup tried to fight the blush creeping to his cheeks at the way his dad lifted him and sat him on one of the stools. It was awfully reminiscent to how his dad used to carry him and plop him down into his highchair when he tried to run away.

His dad kicked a chair towards himself and took a seat in front of Hiccup effectively trapping the boy. He stared at his son but Hiccup couldn’t find the courage to lift his head to meet the man’s eyes. He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, both of them waiting for the other to break the silence that hung heavily in the air. He knew his dad could sit there and stare at him until he caved. The same way he did when Hiccup refused to eat his smoked eel back then. His dad would stare at him until Hiccup began to fidget and finally, ate it with indignant unshed tears. It’s safe to say he had developed a burning passion of distaste for that certain dish, but still ate it with no qualms when his dad was around. He was brought out of his trip down memory lane when his dad let out an exasperated sigh. He could imagine the man rubbing his face and pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I’m not as oblivious as you think Heccup,” his dad started.

Hiccup’s head snapped up and stared at his dad bug-eyed. “Y-you knew?”

“I’m not deaf not to hear the branches from the tree close to your windows creaking or the muffled complaints behind your doors. Why do you think Toothless kept an eye on you constantly?” Stoick raised a brow at him and Hiccup gulped as heat began creeping up his neck.

“How long have you known?”

“Too long, son.” His dad shifted uncomfortably in his seat, “I was worried when I came home one day to strange noises coming from your room, let’s just say I got close enough to figure out what those noises exactly were.”

Hiccup wanted the floor to open up and swallow him.  _ Someone kill me now.  _ He buried his face in his hands, his face felt so hot he worried it would melt off. He cannot believe that his dad heard him and Jack when they were getting  _ too _ enthusiastic with their  _ activities _ . He had never been so mortified in his entire life until that moment. “Oh gods…” His dad stayed silent as he let Hiccup have his moment to calm down and will away the blush from his face. His cheeks were still tainted a warm pink when his dad’s words really sunk in and he momentarily forgot his embarrassment. “Wait, you knew it that long and yet you didn’t say anything?”

“I was waiting for you to say something.” Stoick sighed and scratched his beard unconsciously. “I know I haven’t been, well… the best father. I wasn’t what you needed most of the time. When—” his dad cleared his throat and Hiccup had never heard his dad’s voice sound so raw with emotion before until that moment. “When your mother passed away, I-I didn’t know what to do. Valka, she kept me straight; she was my voice of reason; she guided me to the right way when I was lost. So when she didn’t make it when she gave birth to you, I was so lost.”

Seeing the tears gently streaming down his dad’s cheeks, Hiccup found himself being choked by his own emotions. They never talked about his mom. He didn’t even know the story of how they even lost her. So hearing the story for the first time, Hiccup felt relieved at the same time sad. There was a lot of mixed emotions swirling in his chest and he didn’t know how to process them. But he focused on his dad’s words. He needed to hear this.

“You were born early into this world and the doctors weren’t even sure if you would make it. You were such a wee thing, so frail, so fragile, Heccup. But you were a Haddock, you had Val in you, so I never doubted. I knew you would be the strongest of them all. When I could finally hold you in my arms, it was the single happiest moment of my life.” The tender smile on his dad’s lips and the way he looked at Hiccup, was what let the tears that he tried to hold back finally fall. “But then I realized that I was going to have to raise you on my own. I didn’t have Val anymore. I’ve never taken care of a child before. And you were my own, so I was even more terrified. I raised you the only way I knew and that was the way my dad raised me.

“I knew it wasn’t an effective way of raising you, I knew I had to use a different approach when it came to you. But my work had taken too much of my time for you, and when I realized all of that, you were already grown up and you were distant with me. I didn’t know how to broach the subject. But when I found out about that boy, well… I wasn’t equipped for that situation. So I decided to let you take the reins on that and waited until you were ready to tell me. But the other night, when I found those blood stained bandages, I grew worried.” Stoick wiped the tears away from his cheeks and cleared his throat to compose himself. Hiccup was seriously impressed how his dad suddenly switched into his lawyer mode in that split-second. “So… let’s talk about that boy.”

Being reminded of why he was suddenly in this situation brought back the full force of his blush and the embarrassment of how his dad found out about him and Jack took over his whole body. He wiped the tears off his face furiously and he was once again unable to look at his dad. There was a question burning in his mind and he just had to ask, “You aren’t mad?”

“Oh I’m mad Hiccup,” the boy had flinched at the words and he was gearing for the rejection and being disowned but the next thing his dad said had thrown him off the loop. “But not for the reasons you think. I’m mad that you lied to me, but I’m not mad that well… that you like boys. I probably already knew before you even did.” At the confusion that took over his son’s face, Stoick began to explain.

“You might not remember but when we still used to live with your Old Man Wrinkly, you liked this very particular boy in his neighborhood. He was your first friend and playmate. You were small even for your age at three so I worried about you playing with the other kids. But your granddad convinced me to let you explore. So when you met that boy, I let you be. You followed him like a puppy and mimicked everything he did. He was a nice lad, took care of you better than me to be honest,” the man laughed at this. “I had cases topped upon cases that time, so I never really knew what you two did all the time. But when I finally caught a rare break and was able to watch you with him the whole day, I noticed things. Small things really. You held hands a lot. When he would let go, you would start to cry. If he couldn’t hold your hand he kept you close to his side. He would give you hugs and you would kiss him instead of saying thank you. I knew you were just wee lads and didn’t understand the extent of your actions, but I wasn’t blind not to see that you were taken to that lad. I often found you two asleep together clinging to each other. And when we moved out, you didn’t talk to me for weeks because you were mad that you never got to say goodbye. Since your granddad was the one who came to us instead of us visiting him, you never did see him again. I knew I made the right conclusion that you really liked that lad when you didn’t act the same towards other kids.”

“Are- are you telling me that kid was my— was my first love?” Hiccup gaped at the story his dad had told him. His dad was right when he said he couldn’t remember that time, but he did catch vague images in his memories of a brown haired boy with a wide smile and bright eyes.

“I wouldn’t go as far as that, but when you look at it, maybe the lad really was. So,” Stoick clapped and rubbed his hands together and raised a bushy brow at his boy. “That boy that dropped you earlier, is he well, your uh… boyfriend?” Sometimes Hiccup wondered if he actually inherited his wild hand gesturing from his dad. It was still surreal that he was actually talking to his dad. Especially the fact that they were talking about his apparent homosexuality that his dad was aware of  _ way _ before himself.

He didn’t know how to answer his dad’s question. Well, the answer came easy. The answer to the question was a big, fat, “no”. He and Jack  _ weren’t _ boyfriends. They were not official. Sure they were in a relationship. A weird ass relationship in fact. They were schoolmates, Hiccup tutored him in some subjects and they hung out. But he couldn’t exactly call them friends, because friends don’t usually make out and fuck when they feel like it. And though Jack may have taken him on a date, the older teen didn’t actually say that he liked him in a non-platonic way and that he wanted them to be more than what they are now.

He didn’t know how to answer the question because if he said “no”, his dad would definitely bring up a lot of other questions that Hiccup was uncomfortable answering and undeniably confuse both him and his dad. But he didn’t want to lie. So he said in a small voice, “We aren’t exactly together,  _ together  _ dad.”

Stoick blinked his mouth forming an “O” and he cleared his throat, scratching his beard contemplatively as he glanced at Hiccup. “He’s… He’s not hurting you, is he Hiccup?” the pinched, worried look on his dad’s face told him that what the man was feeling genuine concern.

“W-What? Of course not! Where would you even get that idea?” the teen asked incredulously. He stood up so quickly the stool he was sitting on fell over and he almost face planted on the floor if his dad hadn’t caught him.

“I told you,” his dad explained as he helped him back onto his seat, “I saw the blood stained bandages in the waste bin that you thought you were careful to hide. He’s the only person I knew you were with, so I made that assumption. It may not seem obvious but I do worry about you Hiccup,  _ constantly _ . Now, if you’re telling me he isn’t the one hurting you, then who is it?”

Hiccup chewed his bottom lip nervously, hands fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He wasn’t sure how his dad would react when he found out that the one hurting him was the son of one of his closest friends. Would he believe him? Or would he laugh, tell him it was impossible and wave it aside? His dad didn’t exactly have the most perfect record when it came to listening to him or even believing in him. But there was a slight chance that he would believe Hiccup. There was something shifting between their relationship as dad and son now that his dad opened up about his mom. They never talked about her, so his dad telling him how he was born — remembering the way his dad told him, the raw emotions in his face and voice — it was a first step. A giant step towards something better. Something Hiccup never believed would even be possible. 

“You don’t need to be afraid to tell me son.” And hearing those words coming from his dad, it gave Hiccup courage. He could read it in his dad’s eyes the other words he wanted to say, ‘ _I won’t judge’_ , _‘You can trust me’_ , _‘I’m here for you’._ Hiccup was adept at reading his dad’s stoic-ness, but for the first time, his dad was dropping down his walls and letting him see the emotions behind those curtains.

He had to swallow the block in his throat, his tongue turning to stone as he tried to weave the syllables of the name of his tormentor. He averted his gaze to the floor once again, unable to handle the weight of his dad’s eyes looking directly into his. He took in a calming breath and as he exhaled, it was accompanied by blurting out that lunatic’s name. When his dad asked him to repeat it louder, he scrunched his eyes closed and whispered. “Daggur,” and a little louder, “It was Daggur dad.” 

The sharp intake of breath told him that his dad was surprised. “Daggur? You mean Oswald’s boy? That Daggur?” He would understand his dad’s disbelief. Daggur was a great actor, if he wanted to. He could hide every despicable act he did, and played the card of innocent teenaged boy so perfectly to the adults. And besides, his dad hasn’t exactly spent that much time around the boy to see through him. Stoick never got the chance to see Daggur in his element so Hiccup had expected that kind of reaction from his dad.

He nodded, still not wanting to meet his dad’s eyes. “How long, Hiccup?”

“Since we were kids… but he didn’t beat me up before. The beatings started when I got into high school.” He was wringing his hands, voice growing smaller and smaller until it was just a whisper. A testament of how nervous and scared he really was at the admission. He’s never really talked about it, sure he may have mentioned it to Jack, but that was different. He was forced to tell Jack due to the circumstances that the white-haired teen cornered him. He was forced to admit the truth to him. He and Jack never discussed what really happened. He didn’t disclose any details other than Daggur was a bully and Hiccup was his favorite target. He never told him how severe Daggur’s bullying could go or how long it had gone. And he doesn’t want to think about it.

Thinking about it brought  _ that  _ particular scene on the forefront of his mind. It was something that he’s pushed back so far in his head that he, himself, questioned the reality of it and thought of it as none other than one of his ever growing collection of nightmares.

_ The sky was dark, almost menacing. The feeling of warm liquid seeping into his shirt, fabric clinging uncomfortably to his skin. The crunch of leaves underneath his feet and his own harsh breathing the only sound in his ringing ears. Walking for Odin-knows-how-long with no particular destination except of out. He had to get  _ out _. Out to call help. Out to get to safety. Then there was sound blaring all around him, a blinding light. And the excruciating pain, he’s looking up into the sky again. Thankful that he’s greeted by the sight of the large moon before darkness took over again. _

He felt someone shaking him and a voice calling for his name frantically. “Heccup please, I need you to listen to my voice. I need you to come back to me son.” Hiccup felt a hand brush his hair gently and a choked breath of relief.

The teen blinked his eyes open, wondering when he ever closed them and the blurry image of his dad came into view. He was confused at why his dad was holding him or why they were on the floor or the fact that Toothless, who seemed to have disappeared somewhere during their discussion, was now peering down at him alongside his dad.  _ When in Helheim did that happen? _ “Dad?” he asked. “W-Why are we on the floor?”

There were tears in his dad’s eyes and he seemed to be trying to control his breathing. It was surreal, the way his dad held him at the moment. He couldn’t remember a time the man held him this way. The feeling of protection, security and reassurance ― of love ― rolling onto him in waves. It was amazing but the confusion and that smudge of fear about how he even got in this position was tainting it a bit.

Stoick gulped, clearing whatever was blocking his throat, and stared at his son in worry. “You really can’t remember?”

“Dad, would I have asked if I did?” he replied shakily, trying to break the tension that seemed to be hanging in the air. Toothless gave an unamused growl and swatted the boy’s head with his tail making his dad chuckle a bit.

“Don’t you get cheeky with us, Heccup.” He smiled but it soon vanished. “You honestly scared me there. You just started shaking and muttering and before I knew it you were falling from your seat. It was a good thing I caught you immediately. You wouldn’t respond to my voice and you just clung to me,” his dad recounted. “That was a panic attack, wasn’t it?”

Hiccup didn’t answer, looking away and focusing on calming his rapidly beating heart instead. He could still feel himself trembling a bit and he was still clutching the sleeve of his dad’s shirt.  _ Crap,  _ he thought to himself.  _ I can’t believe that just happened. In front of Dad even. Oh dear Odin, he’ll think I’m crazy. He’ll put me in a mental institute! He’ll pull me out of school and lock me up somewhere. I’m such a disappointment A failure of a Haddock! Nerd, weak, mentally unstable and apparently, gay! What else is going to be added? Oh wait, right! Jack doesn’t love me. He’ll never love me back! How pathetic could I get? _

He wasn’t aware that his trembling increased and he started hyperventilating again, unbidden tears rolling down his cheeks. “Heccup, son, whatever you’re thinking, it’s not true. It’s not going to happen. I need you to listen to me, a’right son? Whatever you think I’m going to do, I’m not. I love you very much. I have a shit arsed way of showing it, but that doesn’t change the fact that I do. You are not a failure, and you are not a disappointment. You do your mother and I very proud and we wouldn’t ask for any other son, only you Heccup. Only you.”

The man pulled his son close to his chest, brushing away the tears, shushing and placing kisses on his head. Hearing those words ― knowing what his dad really thought ― a dam seemed to have broken inside of Hiccup. And tears he’d been holding back for a long time, thoughts and emotions he’d locked up, were gushing out of him and he couldn’t stop them. He buried his face onto his dad’s chest and cried, letting all of it out. Letting his own walls that have been quivering from everything he kept inside himself, crumble at the sheer pressure of it all. Finally given the opportunity to stop pretending, to throw away his mask and be himself  ― his real self  ― embracing the solace he found in this moment, in his dad’s arms. He cried until he ran himself dry of tears.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Once he had calmed down, he felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment. He couldn’t lift his head and look at his dad in the eyes. But his dad didn’t seem to care. Stoick continued to hold him, rubbing his hand gently on the teen’s back soothingly, Toothless doing his own comforting by nuzzling his back. And Hiccup, he decided that he’s going to soak himself in this show of affection from his dad and squeeze every ounce of it until it’s dry and savor it. He doesn’t know when his dad was going to have one of these bouts again, so he’s going to enjoy this. He’s not going to stare a gift-horse in the mouth, that’s just plain stupid.

“Are you back with me son?” Hiccup nodded and he felt his dad place a kiss on top of his head. The tenderness of it making the boy clutch on his dad tighter and his cheeks warm. “Let’s get you to the couch and I’ll make you some hot cocoa.”

The boy didn’t protest when his dad carried him, his over-sized best-friend trotting beside them, and slowly set him down on their large sofa that also doubled as a bed. He let out a pained groan when his bruised side accidentally hit the arm and his dad pointedly looked at it, before grabbing a throw pillow and propping it on his injured side to shield it. He ruffled Hiccup’s hair briefly before heading to the kitchen to work on the teen’s drink. Toothless gracefully climbed up on Hiccup’s lap, smartly avoiding his injury. Hiccup ran his fingers through the Maine Coon’s fur, an act he usually did to calm his nerves. It didn’t take long for his dad to come back with two mugs. He handed the one containing hot cocoa to Hiccup and kept the other which was filled with coffee to himself. Toothless, turned expectantly to Hiccup’s dad, and Stoick stared him down before letting out a sigh and grabbing a packet of cat treats from his back pocket and handed it to his son.

Hiccup let a small smile grace his lips as he accepted it and started feeding Toothless piece by piece. The auburn-haired teen sipped his mug slowly, letting it warm and soothe him. He knew they had to talk about what just happened. His dad had just witnessed him have a panic attack and leaving it unaddressed was not going to do anything good. He was horrified at the same time relieved that his dad knew about it now. He’d been meaning to talk to his dad, to tell him about everything, because really, he had no one else to talk to. He could have told Jack, but some of the stuff he kept to himself was about the older teen, so he didn’t. Plus, he really wasn’t ready to tell Jack about all the nasty things about himself because, to be honest, Jack hasn’t given him that same confidence as well. Fear, shame and guilt had held him back from confiding to his dad or even his godfather, Uncle Gobber (he hadn’t seen the blond man in a while since he left to work in weapon’s design company when Hiccup was fourteen and he loathed to disturb him in his work).

But now here he was, Fate taking the reins from him once again and putting him in a situation where he was forced to face what he had been avoiding for years.

“Are you ready to talk now, son?” his dad queried softly.

“Y-yeah.” His voice was hoarse from crying so Hiccup cleared his throat up. “H-How’d you know it was a panic attack?”

Stoick let out a heavy sigh. “In my line of job, Heccup. One should be prepared in knowing how to deal with certain kinds of people. I’ve had a few encounters with some who are going through similar things that you were,” the man closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out another sigh, looking as if he’d aged a decade in those few seconds. “I just ― I was so blind not to see the same signs in you. It’s so glaringly obvious now and I’ve been a bloody fool to have ignored it, to have denied what I was seeing because I couldn’t believe that it was happening to my own son. And I know, I had my own part in it to have pushed you that far to feel that way. And I- I’ve failed you as a father, Heccup. Odin knows Val would never forgive me that I let this happen to you, to have let  _ Daggur _ ,” he spat the name like it was vile, “hurt you like that without me knowin’ about it.”

Hiccup just stared at his dad. He still felt disoriented from earlier and even more so upon hearing his dad’s words. He never blamed his dad about his situation with Daggur, and he was never mad at him or even hated him for making him feel as if he’d failed him ― that he was a disappointment. He was hurt, yes, and his dad frustrated the Hel out of him, but he’d never reached the point where he cursed his name and wished awful things to happen to him. He still loved his dad despite his shortcomings. And the fact that his dad was actually proud of him and admitted that he was crap at how to say or show it to him, had eased that pain. He knew Haddocks were stubborn and had a bad habit at hiding their emotions, plus being bad communicators. But what was happening now, they’re changing that. They’re trying to get passed through hurdles. His dad had taken a step to want to rebuild their relationship and Hiccup would be stupid not to meet his dad halfway. It won’t be easy and Hiccup was still scared that things would go back to the way they were before. But life was never easy and it will always be covered with uncertainties, the only thing you could do was to not give up and give it your best.

And that’s what he said to his dad. A relationship was a two-way thing. It was not going to work out, nor will it ever, if only one of them was making an effort or taking the active role. (There was something about that thought that nagged him, like he was missing something, referring about another thing  or person too, but he shrugged it off). He and his dad had given up trying to communicate with each other when none of them could get pass the stifling awkwardness. And as an act of trying, Hiccup opened himself up to his dad.

He told him how Daggur had started out bullying him, the usual name-calling, pushing and tripping as a child, until it involved locking him up, experimentally drowning him and practicing his knife throwing on him once in a while. (His dad had been horrified to learn that at the age of twelve, Daggur had been quite violent.) And now that they were in high school, it had evolved into full-out beatings. Hiccup had confessed that his usual lie of a gym class injury were, in fact, given to him by the deranged teen. Hiccup could see the furious fire in his dad’s eyes and he was relieved and partly awed that it was not directed at him. Suddenly, he realized that he had never seen such an expression in his dad eyes before.

It was terrifying.

Hiccup had no sense of time of how long their talk lasted, but he felt himself yawn and he blinked as his eyelids began to droop. His dad had told him that they’d have enough for the day and he should really get some rest. He didn’t argue and did as he was told. Stoick had given him pain medication and ointment for his large bruise. Tomorrow, his dad promised to bring him to the hospital to get him checked for any other damages and the look his dad had given him was one that didn’t take “No” for an answer so Hiccup had resigned himself to that fate.

As he lay down on his bed, Toothless curled beside him and Snowstorm on the other, Hiccup had the sudden sense to pick up his phone. He unlocked it and to his surprise, he had five missed calls and fourteen unread messages from Jack. He smiled as he read the jock’s messages to him, shifting from casual and flirting to frantic and worried at the end. He bit his lip, trying to stop the smile spreading on them, but he knew he could not. And as much as he enjoyed the fluttery feeling it produced in his chest to know that Jack cared enough to worry, Hiccup typed out a short message.

**To:** Snowflake

**> > ** I’m fine, Jack. BTW Dad knows. Next time, try to be quiet when you climb the tree. Night.

Hiccup didn’t get to see his phone light up or the way it vibrated almost tumbling down to his carpeted floor. It wasn’t until the next day he read Jack’s reply.

**From: Snowflake**

**_> >_ ** _ Hey! I’m always careful when I get up your room!  > 3 < _

**> > ** _ Did you just say your Dad knows? _

**> >** _Wai- WHUUUU???_

**_> >_ ** _ Hiccup? _

**_> >_ ** _ HICCUP?! _

**_> >_ ** _ WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR DAD KNOWS _

**_> >_ ** _ FRECKLES DON’T LEAVE ME HANGING LIKE THIS _

**_> >_ ** _ DRAGON BOY ANSWER ME!! _

**_> >_ ** _ Are you really sleeping? _

**_> >_ ** _ Oh, all right. Night, Hic. Dream of me my skinny assed dragon boy! _


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Jack is very confused by his friends and he misses Hiccup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I would like to apologize. This took took too long for me to upload and too long for me to update this fic. I can't thank those of you enough who have stuck with this fic from beginning until now. I'm really sorry for making you guys wait too long. And I can't really promise if I'll update this sooner. But I will finish this. Eventually. As soon as I get myself to start writing out the stuff I put on the outline. OTL I'm so sorry.
> 
> This chapter is unbeta'd as usual so the mistakes are all mine.
> 
> Disclaimer can be found on the preceding chapters.

_ He doesn’t remember running this hard in his life before. So fast that the sights before him were nothing but a blur. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was. Other than the fact that it must have been somewhere secluded, dark, and dangerous. The sound of crunching leaves and twigs under his feet, the hard thumps on the slightly damp soil and his harsh breathing seemed too loud in his ears. The beat of his heart a thrumming bass in his chest. _

_ His body ached, his muscles burned, his head throbbed and his vision swam. But there was nothing more prominent than the fear that had gripped his heart. He could smell it in the air. Feel it surrounding him as if it was a tangible thing. So thick and slimy as it dripped and covered every inch of his skin, sinking into his pores, streaming in his blood and slowly making its way to his heart. Filling every vein, artery and flooding its four chambers. _

_ There’s a voice behind him. Calling his name. Laughing gleefully. It promised horrors that he wasn’t quite thrilled to be acquainted to. _

_ Something grabs him from behind, pushing him up against the hard bark, the ridges sinking into his cheek in a bruising manner. There’s a cold object that touches the skin just above the jutting bone of his hip and then he feels something sink into his skin. Blinding hot pain washes over him ripping a scream out of his throat and making him thrash. He belatedly realizes that it was the cold hard sharp thing that touched his skin earlier that did it. _

_ “You can’t run from me, Hiccup.” _

* * *

The bell jingled as the door was pushed open by a hooded teen. The smell of fresh coffee, hot calming tea and newly-baked pastries hung in the air. Soft music played in the background along with the usual chatter and bustle that filled the space at this time of the day. The teen walked past the occupied round tables, didn’t bother glancing at the single couches near the floor-to-ceiling panel windows and quietly made his way into a corner booth. A brown short-haired woman had greeted him jovially but at his rather dull response, her smile was soon replaced with a slightly concerned look. Her eyes followed him as he walked towards two teens quietly sipping their drinks.

The pair had noticed the hooded teen from the moment he had entered the establishment but did not make any movements which indicated that they’ve seen him. When he was only a few steps away, the blonde of the two scooted over in his seat, making his brunette companion shoot him a biting look.

Oblivious to the exchange, the teen wordlessly accepted the offered spot and slid into the booth before slumping on the table with an explosively forlorn sigh.

Two pairs of eyes looked at him, their brows lifted questioningly and looked at each other in askance. But none of them seemed to be enlightened with an answer. The duo instead decided to wait for the teen to speak. Knowing, that eventually, he would tell them what was bothering him rather than pry it out of him.

Seconds later, a tall raven-haired teen stood beside their table. A black apron was tied around his hip bearing the logo of the café. Balanced tray in his hand, the server wordlessly placed a cup of hot beverage in front of the hooded teen.

“Is there anything else you need?” he asked them politely, giving a curious look towards the slumped teen, to which the other two occupants of the booth only shrugged.

“Do you have one freckled, sarcastic, adorable, auburn-haired nerd with a dragon obsession, of Viking decent, that happens to be the love of my life and incredibly out of my league in your menu?” the hooded teen asked in a muffled voice.

“Uh… no. We don’t Jack,” the raven-haired server replied, expression caught in-between mild amusement and exasperation.

“Then don’t ask me what I need Tadashi, how could you be so tactless?” Jack lifted his head from the table and glared at his Japanese friend, lips formed into a petulant pout.

The trio just stared at him for a few beats before simultaneously, as if choreographed, burst into laughter.

“It’s not funny guys! Come on!” Jack whined at his friends as they clutched their stomachs trying to rein in their laughter.

“I—” Will heaved. “I can’t believe he said that,” he finished before dissolving into another fit of laughter beside him.

“ _ Excuse me, but do you happen to have one Hiccup Haddock in your menu? My friend here is incredibly in need of one as you see that’s he’s sickeningly,  besotted with the boy and terribly misses him, _ ” Jim said in his best imitation of Mr. Doppler’s British accent making Tadashi and Will laugh some more.

“You three can be such asses sometimes,” Jack groaned, washing his hand over his face but a smile was beginning to tug at the corner of his lips.

“Oh come on, if it was one of us three that said something like that you’d be laughing like us too,” Tadashi retorted eyes still bright with humor.

“Tadashi! Table 6 needs a refill!” the brunette woman Jack had bumped into earlier called from the other side of the room.

“Got it Aunt Cass!” Tadashi replied and faced his friends. “I’ll be right back you guys. Still got five minutes in my shift.” He saluted them and made his way back to the counter to get the coffee pot.

The Lucky Cat Café was a shop Tadashi’s aunt owned. Nestled above it was the two-floor three-bedroom apartment residence the Hamadas lived in. It was a spacious comfortable place with a welcoming atmosphere, located in the junction that led up to the college district and the town residences. It catered to a variety of people but most of its customers were students and professors from the nearby college looking for a quiet place to work.

It had also become one the quartet’s hangout places. The other’s being the B&B Inn Jim’s mother owns, the Coffee shop of Jack’s Uncle that was in the business district, his dad’s toy shop (Jim and Tadashi were mostly the ones who enjoy it here), the archery range in Will’s backyard (they couldn’t exactly hangout in the clinic his mother runs) and the abandoned skating park, just to name a few. Choosing which place usually depended on each of their schedules as the four of them helped out in their parents’ place of business. So today, it was The Lucky Cat Café.

The three teens decided to wait for Tadashi and finish their drinks in peace. Jack took this time as a chance to clear his mind a bit from the clutter of thoughts he’d been having since the night he had taken Hiccup out on a date and driven him home. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since they last saw each other but Jack was already missing the auburn teen. There’s also a part of him that’s worried about the boy. Especially after the text he had sent Jack late that night. Hiccup still hasn’t replied and he didn’t take that as a good sign.

“Ooh, someone’s got their eyes on Tadashi,” Will’s voice broke him out of his thoughts and Jack looked up from his drink to the direction the blonde had his eyes on.

It was a girl seated in one of the two-seater round tables near the glass panels that overlooked the street. She had long golden-brown hair and bright light green eyes. She wore a yellow cardigan on top of her cream-colored shirt and white pants. She was a pretty girl and Jack had to squint to make sure that he wasn’t actually seeing things because the girl reminded him of a year-mate — Rapunzel Corona. They could have been twins to be honest. Jack watched her as she drank her cup and surreptitiously glanced towards their friend. Tadashi was chatting with an elder lady, that Jack was sure of was named Mrs. Tanaka, setting down her usual cup of oolong tea on her table.

“She certainly has,” Jack agreed. “Jim, what do you think? Should we set them up?” A scheming smile stretched upon his lips as he rubbed his hands together. Thoughts of Hiccup momentarily forgotten, he began to contemplate the best ways to get the two to exchange numbers or talk to each other.

“Whatever, leave me out of it,” Jim replied. But hearing the strained undertone, Jack took his eyes away from the girl and redirected it towards the brunette.

Jack stared at Jim. His face was scrunched up into a scowl. Then again that wasn’t anything new, scowling being Jim’s expression half of the time. But like any best friend, Jack inherently knew this scowl was different.

He noticed how his shoulders were stiff, the way his hands clutched the mug a little too tightly and there’s this faraway look in his eyes as he stared at nothing in particular out of the window. As the seconds passed by his frown deepened and he began to chew on his lips, but not because he was nervous or anxious. But because Jack could see his lips moving to form silent words and he was trying to stop himself.

Something was  _ definitely _ off.

Curiosity piqued, the white-haired teen took in the whole image of his friend and gave him a considering look. 

There were bags under his eyes and  his complexion was a little pasty, his clothes were a bit rumpled as if not bothering to go through his closet and easily picked up the first thing he found without even giving it a glance. And Jack’s brows slowly rose because he couldn’t believe he actually didn’t notice it earlier.

Jim’s clothes were different.

Oh it wasn’t because they were rumpled or anything, but the fact that he was wearing clothes that weren’t  _ his _ usual style. His old aviator jacket was gone replaced by a comfy looking SFU hoodie that was a size larger than him and tight-fitting pants (he checked under the table, Jim didn’t seem to notice). He was also, decidedly, not wearing his combat boots but a pair of worn sneakers that he rarely used. Gone was the baggy clothes Jim preferred and the effect was surprising because his friend looked younger and was the perfect image of a sulking angst-ridden teen. And Jim had always been the shortest among them, but his presence and the way he carried himself, plus the scowl made him look bigger, older.

But now? Damn Jim looked like a kid swimming in that hoodie but he also looked pretty good. Jim should really wear more fitting clothes.

“What the hell happened to you?” Jack blurted out. He mentally slapped himself for being unable to stop himself in time.

Will snorted while Jim stiffened. And Jack narrowed his eyes as he glanced back and forth between his friends. He may be a bit oblivious but he wasn’t stupid. He knew when people were hiding something from him.

“Nothing,” Jim answered curtly, refusing to look at Jack. It served to convince the white-haired teen that he was right in his assumption.

“Will?”

The blonde raised his hands saying, “Nope, this isn’t my story to tell. I’m washing my hands from this. Oh look, the eagle has landed and made contact.”

And Jack, effectively distracted, looked to see that the pretty girl that’s been stealing glances at Tadashi earlier was now talking to their friend. He wasn’t sure what they were saying, but from their smiles and their proximity they seem to be getting along. But soon an apologetic look flits to Tadashi’s face and he says something that makes the girl’s smile falter but it was only a split second and she was smiling again, although it wasn’t as bright as before. She bowed and quickly turned around to leave. Tadashi stared at her with a little worried frown and sighed before moving behind the counter and going through a door that lead to the employees’ breakroom and lockers.

“Well, that went well. Looks like Tadashi turned the girl down,” Jack said shaking his head in disappointment. He could see the chemistry between the two and they could have looked good together, but he couldn’t exactly scheme in setting the two together if Tadashi had turned the girl down that easily. He knew not to push when there was no need for pushing.

Remembering that he was about to question Jim before Will had timely redirected his attention to Tadashi, Jack turned back towards his brunette friend. His question stayed on the tip of his tongue though. His mind focused more on the changes in Jim’s posture. His shoulders weren’t stiff but they weren’t also relaxed, the set in his jaw was eased a bit, his scowl smoothed more into a frown of confusion. Jack cocked his head to the side, trying to make sense of what could have possibly made the brunette teen less tense.

He glanced at Will who was sporting a rather amused smile but Jack couldn’t gather why that would be. Seriously, what happened the past twenty-four hours with these guys? He could’ve sworn there was an inside joke that he wasn’t privy to. And neither of the two were too inclined to share. Maybe he’ll ask Tadashi. Out of the three of them, Tadashi would definitely take pity on him and bring him up to speed with the current happenings in their gang.

And with his usually impeccable timing, Tadashi had slid into the booth right next to Jim. If Jack had trained his eyes on Jim a few more seconds, he would have seen the young man tense when his and Tadashi arms brushed against each other. He would have also taken note of the minute shifting Jim did to put a little distance between him and Tadashi. Or the fact that under the table, Tadashi’s pinky was curled around Jim’s own, which coincidentally made Jim sink further into his oversized jacket to hide the flush tainting his neck.

But Jack had his eyes on Tadashi. And Tadashi’s face had that usual bright smile. Looking calm. Collected. Face smoothed from any kind of inner thoughts. Never giving anything away. Never letting them glimpse the doubt or his apprehensiveness in entertaining his newly enlightened perception about Jim, but also the tentative flutter of excitement at exploring the possibilities about Jim.

Will though was the sole witness. Being the only one who knew what to look for. He could see through Tadashi’s façade. Knew what this could possibly mean for both his friends. Knew the truth of what those two felt because he could read it in them. Jim had always been expressive, but without any background information you could never really tell what. Tadashi on the other had a perfect poker face but his eyes were what usually betrayed him. There were tiny moments where he would slip and you would see his inner thoughts but those were few and far in between. Tadashi never really hid himself from them, but when he was uncertain he reverts back to it.

So yeah, unlike Jack, Will knew what was going on. He  _ was  _ there when the shift happened. Albeit, laughing at Jim’s and Tadashi’s predicament. It was an unexpected development and none of them had even seen it coming. You couldn’t exactly blame them. From the time they’ve known each other, none of them even considered looking at any of their friends in a different aspect. For the quartet, they were nothing but friends.

But with the way things are at the moment, it seemed that it wasn’t going to be the case with Jim and Tadashi.

And as much as Will would like to get Jack in the know, Jim and Tadashi didn’t want to say anything. In fact, the idiots refuse to say anything—even to each other. Jack was also, still, having problems with Hiccup and really, the thing with Jim and Tadashi was really none of their business. It should be resolved by those two. It was nothing to concern Jack with and get his panties in a twist.

Unless they had to get Jim’s head out of his ass, then they’d definitely need to intervene before things got out of hand.

“Tadashi!” Jack exclaimed reaching out to his friend and giving the Japanese his best puppy-eyed look. “Will won’t tell me what’s going on with Jim!”

Tadashi’s face didn’t even show any change other than the widening of his smile and the amused glance he shot Jim, who only shifted uncomfortable in his chair.

“He’s just tired Jack. He couldn’t’ get any sleep last night because Mochi kept bugging him and Hiro was snoring.”

Before Jack could say anything an indignant voice suddenly interjected, “I do not snore!”

The guys, minus Tadashi, jumped at the sudden appearance of a wild-haired pre-teen on the booth behind Jim and Tadashi, hazel eyes glaring at the raven who only grinned in reply.

“’Course you do Hiro. I wouldn’t have said so if you didn’t,” Tadashi easily replied.

“Shut up! If anyone was keeping Jim up, it was you! You guys were so loud and the bed kept creaking!” Hiro retorted arms waving wildly in the air.

Will whose surprise had worn off was now laughing his head off almost falling from his seat. Jim was as red as a tomato. Tadashi looked a little loss for words. And Jack… Jack still had no idea what was going on.

Hiro then said something in Japanese which made Tadashi’s mouth drop open. His arm shot out to swipe Hiro’s head but the younger Hamada had ducked away in time. The kid quickly scampered away yelling, “Baka nii-chan!” and stuck his tongue out at Tadashi.

He would have found the situation funny but his mind latched on to the fact that Jim had apparently slept over. “You guys had a slumber party?”

Will faced Jack with a sly grin. “I don’t know about the party since Jim and Tadashi were the only ones who had one—,“ to which Jim and Tadashi shouted “WILL!” but he continued as if he heard nothing, “—but yeah we did sleepover.” Will let out a dramatic sigh. “They left me in the couch. The indignity of it all.”

“Why would you guys even have a sleepover without me?” Jack exclaimed incredulously.

Will gave him a dubious look. “Uh, Jack you were on a date with Hiccup.”

“But you could have at least held it off for me!”

“Jack, it wasn’t exactly planned,” Tadashi tried to explain.

“Yeah like I planned to sleep in the same bed with Tadashi.” Jim muttered under his breath but none of his friends seemed to have heard or probably decided to just ignore him.

“You see, someone broke Tadashi’s drone,” Will quickly supplied, which wasn’t exactly a lie. His brain began to work hastily to form a plausible story. Connor and Travis had taught him that the most believable lies were ones that were close to the truth. “Jim and I offered to help and well, we searched up places to look for parts. We ended up in this town some hours later and decided to have dinner there. One thing led to another, Jim got soaked and it was late so Tadashi said we could sleep at his place. It being closer and all. Plus, you know how his mom gets right? So viola. Instant slumber party. But like I said it wasn’t much of a party for me compared to Tadashi and Jim.”

Will finished with a wolfish grin, wiggling his brows at the pair sitting across him. Jim’s scowled at him while Tadashi gave him an unimpressed look.

Jack looked at his friends. There was a different story in there. Something that would explain the current atmosphere between the three. Obviously, Will wasn’t telling the whole truth but Jack reluctantly bought the story. If his friends thought they shouldn’t bother to tell him, then it might not be that huge of a deal.

Hopefully.

“Anyways, why are you all sulky anyway?” Jim finally broke out of his own sulk to get to Jack’s own. He wasn’t comfortable being the topic of conversation, especially when it was about something he was very much actively avoiding thinking or talking about.

Jack let out a long suffering sigh and began re-telling his date — unaware that his friends had known exactly how it went being prime witnesses and schemers of said date — then proceeded to his current woes about one freckled Junior of theirs.

His friends attentively listened to him and offered advices. And he was thankful that he had friends that got his back. But as much as he appreciated them, he just really wanted to hear from Hiccup.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a review! Thank you for reading!


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